Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan,
and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. New York:
The Penguin Press, 2004. 695 pages.
There are three types of books that get written about recent events.
One pretends that history is created by a single colorful personality
("Charlie Wilson's War" by George Crile). It is written with an eye to the
movie rights. Another might be described as sound-bite partisanship that
broadcasts questions more than it pursues answers ("House of Bush, House of
Saud" by Craig Unger). Steve Coll's book is the third type -- explanatory
journalism that is both detailed and broad, reads like a sober textbook,
and explains events and circumstances chronologically without emphasizing
the role of extraordinary individuals. A screenwriter would have a tough
time with this one. The only reason it's in bookstores today is because
U.S. publishers ignored the Middle East for twenty years, and then after
9/11 suspected that history might sell -- even if Charlie Wilson is
mentioned on only a few pages!
Steve Coll was the South Asia bureau chief for the Washington Post
between 1989 and 1992, where he covered Afghanistan, and has been managing
editor of the Post since 1998. He won a Pulitzer for explanatory journalism
in 1990. Although a good portion of this book deals with hot-button issues
such as the CIA, Coll's reporting has to be described as "uncritical."
ISBN 1-59420-007-6
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