Ghost Wars

{{About|the book|the 2017 television series|Ghost Wars (TV series)}}

{{Infobox book

| name = Ghost Wars

| image = Ghost wars cover.jpg

| image_size = 223px

| caption =

| author = Steve Coll

| country = United States

| language = English

| genre = Nonfiction

| publisher = The Penguin Press

| release_date = December 28, 2004

| media_type = Print (hardback and paperback)

| pages = 720

| isbn = 1-59420-007-6

}}

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001, abbreviated as Ghost Wars, is a book written by Steve Coll, published in 2004 by Penguin Press.{{cite book |last=Coll |first=Steve |author-link=Steve Coll |title=Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2004 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ghostwarssecreth00coll/page/695 695] pages |url=https://archive.org/details/ghostwarssecreth00coll |url-access=registration |isbn=1-59420-007-6}} It won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.{{cite web |title= Pulitzer Prize Winners: General Nonfiction |publisher=pulitzer.org |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/ |access-date=2008-03-16}}

Summary

The book provides an in-depth account of Central Intelligence Agency activity in Afghanistan from the time of the Soviet invasion to the aftermath of attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Coll particularly notes the interplay between the CIA and its counterpart in Pakistan, Inter-Services Intelligence, which used CIA and Saudi Arabian funding to build militant Mujahideen training camps along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border in an effort to create radicalized, militant fighters sourced from many Arab countries to attack the Soviet occupation. Invariably, as Coll shows, this decision had long-lasting effects on the region.

Expanded edition and follow-up

{{cite book |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780141020808 |year=2005 |title=Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780141020808}}
{{cite book |author=Coll, Steve |author-mask=1 |year=2018 |title=Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001–2016 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9781846146602}}

Penguin published a slightly expanded edition in 2005 that added the work of the 9/11 Commission.

In 2011, Coll announced a follow-up to Ghost Wars. When asked about a release date for the book, Coll said "It will take a while. ... I'd like the second volume to hold up over time."{{cite news |author= |title=Ask the Author Live: Steve Coll and Lawrence Wright on Osama Bin Laden |url=http://www.newyorker.com/books/ask-the-author/ask-the-author-live-steve-coll-and-lawrence-wright-on-osama-bin-laden |newspaper=The New Yorker |date=May 6, 2011 |access-date=August 9, 2015}}

Awards

Steve Coll won the 2004 Lionel Gelber Prize for Ghost Wars.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/03/24/AR2005032402023.html|title=HONORS |date=3 March 2005|newspaper=The Washington Post}} The work also received the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

References

External links

{{OL work}}
{{Google books|N8Qxf-33dxMC|Ghost Wars}}
[http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/whats_on/pritzker-military-presents/steve-coll-ghost-wars/ Steve Coll discusses Ghost Wars] at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library

Category:2004 non-fiction books

Category:American history books

Category:History books about Afghanistan

Category:Books about intelligence analysis

Category:Books about the War on Terror

Category:Non-fiction books about the Central Intelligence Agency

Category:21st-century history books

Category:Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction–winning works

Category:Books about the Soviet–Afghan War