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Charlie Wilsons War
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Book Synopsis Charlie Wilson's War by : George Crile
Download or read book Charlie Wilson's War written by George Crile and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes how, after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, maverick Texas congressman Charlie Wilson persuaded his colleagues to fund the CIA's efforts to arm the mujahideen and recounts the repercussions of that covert operation.
Book Synopsis Charlie Wilson's War by : George Crile
Download or read book Charlie Wilson's War written by George Crile and published by Grove/Atlantic, Inc.. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 827 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bestselling true story of a Texas congressman’s secret role in the Afghan defeat of Russian invaders is “a tour de force of reporting and writing” (Dan Rather). A New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times bestseller. Charlie Wilson’s penchant for cocktails and beauty-contest winners was well known, but in the early 1980s, the dilettante congressman quietly conducted one of the most successful covert operations in US history. Using his seat on the House Appropriations Committee, Wilson channeled hundreds of millions of dollars to support a ragged band of Afghan “freedom fighters” in their resistance against Soviet invaders. Weapons were secretly procured and distributed with the help of an outcast CIA operative named Gust Avrakotos, who stretched the agency’s rules to the breaking point. Moving from the back rooms of Washington to secret chambers at Langley, and from arms-dealers’ conventions to the Khyber Pass, Wilson and Avrakotos helped the mujahideen win an unlikely victory against the Russians. Adapted into a film starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson’s War chronicles an overlooked chapter in the collapse of the Soviet Union—and the emergence of a brand-new foe in the form of radical Islam. “Put the Tom Clancy clones back on the shelf; this covert-ops chronicle is practically impossible to put down. No thriller writer would dare invent Wilson.” —Publishers Weekly “An engaging, well-written, newsworthy study of practical politics and its sometimes unlikely players, and one with plenty of implications.” —Kirkus Reviews
Book Synopsis Diplomacy and Diamonds by : Joanne King Herring
Download or read book Diplomacy and Diamonds written by Joanne King Herring and published by Center Street. This book was released on 2011-10-19 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: She's been dirt poor; she's been filthy rich. Rich was more fun. She married three times, divorced twice, found her true love, and lost him to cancer. At twenty-one, she was told she would soon die. She lived. Doctors said she'd never be able to have children. She had 'em. She's bargained with God, dictators, and Democrats. She's partied with princes, presidents, premiers, Barbara Walters, Anwar Sadat, Margaret Thatcher, Tom Hanks, and Francisco Franco . . . though not all at the same time. She captivated powerful men with her feminine charm, and then persuaded them toward unlikely political alliances through her formidable intelligence. She waltzed with Prince Philip in Buckingham Palace, dressed in men's clothes and smuggled herself in a barrel across the Pakistani border, threw a Roman-themed party so extravagant it was featured in Life magazine, and survived a Soviet gunship attack in the mountains of Afghanistan. Joanne Herring, the Houston socialite portrayed by Julia Roberts in the film Charlie Wilson's War, is far more colorful, funny, and likable than any screenwriter could have guessed. The former Texas television anchor is known for her improbable fight with the mujahideen against the former Soviet Union. But her full story-with all its God, guns, and Gucci glory-has never been told. Born in the man's world of Texas in a time when women had limited choices, Joanne Herring blazed a trail with allies as unlikely as Charlie Wilson, Pierre Cardin, and President Ronald Reagan . . . and in so doing forged new paths for women in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and America.
Book Synopsis Charlie Wilson's War by : George Crile
Download or read book Charlie Wilson's War written by George Crile and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In a little over a decade, two events have transformed the world we live in: the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of militant Islam. Charlie Wilson's War is the untold story behind the last battle of the Cold War and how it fueled the new jihad. George Crile tells how Charlie Wilson, a maverick congressman from east Texas, conspired with a roque CIA operative to launch the biggest, meanest, and most successful covert operation in the Agency's history." "In the early 1980s, after a Houston socialite turned Wilson's attention to the ragged band of Afghan "freedom fighters" who continued, despite overwhelming odds, to fight the Soviet invaders, the congressman became passionate about their cause. At a time when Ronald Reagan faced a total cutoff of funding for the Contra war, Wilson, who sat on the all-powerful House Appropriations Committee, managed to procure hundreds of millions of dollars to support the mujahideen. The arms were secretly procured and distributed with the aid of an out-of-favor CIA operative, Gust Avrakotos, whose working-class Greek-American background made him an anomaly among the Ivy League world of American spies. Nicknamed "Dr. Dirty," the blue-collar James Bond was an aggressive agent who served on the front lines of the Cold War where he learned how to stretch the Agency's rules to the breaking point." "Avrakotos handpicked a staff of CIA outcasts to run his operation: "Hilly Billy," the logistics wizard who could open an unnumbered Swiss bank account for the U.S. government in twelve hours when others took months; Art Alper, the grandfatherly demolitions expert from the Technical Services Division who passed on his dark arts to the Afghans; Mike Vickers, the former Green Beret who created a systematic plan to turn a rabble of shepherds into an army of techno holy warriors."--BOOK JACKET.
Book Synopsis Afghanistan in the Cinema by : Mark Graham
Download or read book Afghanistan in the Cinema written by Mark Graham and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2010-04-07 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this timely critical introduction to the representation of Afghanistan in film, Mark Graham examines the often surprising combination of propaganda and poetry in films made in Hollywood and the East. Through the lenses of postcolonial theory and historical reassessment, Graham analyzes what these films say about Afghanistan, Islam, and the West and argues that they are integral tools for forming discourse on Afghanistan, a means for understanding and avoiding past mistakes, and symbols of the country's shaky but promising future. Thoughtfully addressing many of the misperceptions about Afghanistan perpetuated in the West, Afghanistan in the Cinema incorporates incisive analysis of the market factors, funding sources, and political agendas that have shaped the films. The book considers a range of films, beginning with the 1970s epics The Man Who Would Become King and The Horsemen and following the shifts in representation of the Muslim world during the Russian War in films such as The Beast and Rambo III. Graham then moves on to Taliban-era films such as Kandahar, Osama, and Ellipsis, the first Afghan film directed by a woman. Lastly, the book discusses imperialist nostalgia in films such as Charlie Wilson's War and destabilizing visions represented in contemporary works such as The Kite Runner.
Download or read book The Main Enemy written by Milton Bearden and published by Presidio Press. This book was released on 2004-08-31 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the dramatic inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them. Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose through the ranks to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War. The clandestine operations they masterminded took them from the sewers of Moscow to the back streets of Baghdad, from Cairo and Havana to Prague and Berlin, but the action centers on Washington, starting in the infamous "Year of the Spy"—when, one by one, the CIA’s agents in Moscow began to be killed, up through to the very last man. Behind the scenes with the CIA's covert operations in Afghanistan, Milt Bearden led America to victory in the secret war against the Soviets, and for the first time he reveals here what he did and whom America backed, and why. Bearden was called back to Washington after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan and was made chief of the Soviet/East Euro-pean Division—just in time to witness the fall of the Berlin Wall, the revolutions that swept across Eastern Europe, and the implosion of the Soviet Union. Laced with startling revelations—about fail-safe top-secret back channels between the CIA and KGB, double and triple agents, covert operations in Berlin and Prague, and the fateful autumn of 1989—The Main Enemy is history at its action-packed best.
Download or read book Ghost Wars written by Steve Coll and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2005-03-03 with total page 736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The news-breaking book that has sent schockwaves through the White House, Ghost Wars is the most accurate and revealing account yet of the CIA's secret involvement in al-Qaeada's evolution. Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll has spent years reporting from the Middle East, accessed previously classified government files and interviewed senior US officials and foreign spymasters. Here he gives the full inside story of the CIA's covert funding of an Islamic jihad against Soviet forces in Afghanistan, explores how this sowed the seeds of bn Laden's rise, traces how he built his global network and brings to life the dramatic battles within the US government over national security. Above all, he lays bare American intelligence's continual failure to grasp the rising threat of terrrorism in the years leading to 9/11 - and its devastating consequences.
Download or read book Good Hunting written by Jack Devine and published by Sarah Crichton Books. This book was released on 2014-06-03 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A sophisticated, deeply informed account of real life in the real CIA that adds immeasurably to the public understanding of the espionage culture—the good and the bad." —Bob Woodward Jack Devine ran Charlie Wilson's War in Afghanistan. It was the largest covert action of the Cold War, and it was Devine who put the brand-new Stinger missile into the hands of the mujahideen during their war with the Soviets, paving the way to a decisive victory against the Russians. He also pushed the CIA's effort to run down the narcotics trafficker Pablo Escobar in Colombia. He tried to warn the director of central intelligence, George Tenet, that there was a bullet coming from Iraq with his name on it. He was in Chile when Allende fell, and he had too much to do with Iran-Contra for his own taste, though he tried to stop it. And he tangled with Rick Ames, the KGB spy inside the CIA, and hunted Robert Hanssen, the mole in the FBI. Good Hunting: An American Spymaster's Story is the spellbinding memoir of Devine's time in the Central Intelligence Agency, where he served for more than thirty years, rising to become the acting deputy director of operations, responsible for all of the CIA's spying operations. This is a story of intrigue and high-stakes maneuvering, all the more gripping when the fate of our geopolitical order hangs in the balance. But this book also sounds a warning to our nation's decision makers: covert operations, not costly and devastating full-scale interventions, are the best safeguard of America's interests worldwide. Part memoir, part historical redress, Good Hunting debunks outright some of the myths surrounding the Agency and cautions against its misuses. Beneath the exotic allure—living abroad with his wife and six children, running operations in seven countries, and serving successive presidents from Nixon to Clinton—this is a realist, gimlet-eyed account of the Agency. Now, as Devine sees it, the CIA is trapped within a larger bureaucracy, losing swaths of turf to the military, and, most ominous of all, is becoming overly weighted toward paramilitary operations after a decade of war. Its capacity to do what it does best—spying and covert action—has been seriously degraded. Good Hunting sheds light on some of the CIA's deepest secrets and spans an illustrious tenure—and never before has an acting deputy director of operations come forth with such an account. With the historical acumen of Steve Coll's Ghost Wars and gripping scenarios that evoke the novels of John le Carré even as they hew closely to the facts on the ground, Devine offers a master class in spycraft.
Book Synopsis I Am Charlie Wilson by : Charlie Wilson
Download or read book I Am Charlie Wilson written by Charlie Wilson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-06-30 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The seven-time Grammy-nominated R&B and funk musician traces his decades-long career, his collaborations with fellow artists and the role of faith in helping him recover from addiction, cancer and homelessness.
Book Synopsis Charlie Wilson's War by : George Crile
Download or read book Charlie Wilson's War written by George Crile and published by . This book was released on 2007-11 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last decade, two events have transformed the world: the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of militant Islam. This is the first book to explain the link between these two occurrences. George Crile spent nearly a decade researching and writing this original account of the biggest, most expensive secret war in history: the arming of the Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation. Moving from the secret chambers in CIA headquarters to stand-offs in the Khyber Pass, Charlie Wilson's War is one of the most thorough and vivid descriptions of CIA operations ever written. It is the missing chapter in the geopolitics of our time.
Book Synopsis Docu-Fictions of War by : Tatiana Prorokova
Download or read book Docu-Fictions of War written by Tatiana Prorokova and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2019-05-01 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historical writing and fiction are not the same thing, though historians often creatively manipulate material in imposing plot structures, selecting starting and ending points, and fashioning compelling literary characters from historical figures. In Docu-Fictions of War, Tatiana Prorokova argues that the opposite is also true--war fiction offers a kind of history that both documents its subjects and provides a snapshot of the cultural representation of the United States' most recent military involvements. She covers a largely neglected body of cinematic and literary texts about the First Gulf War, the Balkan War, the Afghanistan War, and the Iraq War to open a fresh analysis of cultural texts on war. Prorokova contends that these texts are not pure fiction, but "docu-fictions"--works of imagination that can document their subjects while disclosing the social, political, and historical link between war and culture during the last three decades. Docu-Fictions of War analyzes how these representational narratives have highlighted a humanitarian rationale behind American involvement in each war, whether the stated goals were to free the oppressed from tyranny, stop genocide, or rid the world of terrorism. The book explores the gap between history--what allegedly happened--and the cultural mythology that is both true and inexact, tangible and sensed, recognized and undocumented.
Download or read book The Triple Agent written by Joby Warrick and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2011-07-19 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer-Prize winning reporter, a stunning narrative account of the mysterious Jordanian who penetrated both the inner circle of al-Qaeda and the highest reaches of the CIA, with a devastating impact on the war on terror. "Warwick is a brilliant reporter...A gripping true-life spy saga."—Los Angeles Times In December 2009, a group of the CIA’s top terrorist hunters gathered at a secret base in Khost, Afghanistan, to greet a rising superspy: Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian double-agent who infiltrated the upper ranks of al-Qaeda. For months, he had sent shocking revelations from inside the terrorist network and now promised to help the CIA assassinate Osama bin Laden’s top deputy. Instead, as he stepped from his car, he detonated a thirty-pound bomb strapped to his chest, instantly killing seven CIA operatives, the agency’s worst loss of life in decades. In The Triple Agent, Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter Joby Warrick takes us deep inside the CIA’s secret war against al-Qaeda, a war that pits robotic planes and laser-guided missiles against a cunning enemy intent on unleashing carnage in American cities. Flitting precariously between the two sides was Balawi, a young man with extraordinary gifts who managed to win the confidence of hardened terrorists as well as veteran spymasters. With his breathtaking accounts from inside al-Qaeda’s lair, Balawi appeared poised to become America’s greatest double-agent in half a century—but he was not at all what he seemed. Combining the powerful momentum of Black Hawk Down with the institutional insight of Jane Mayer’s The Dark Side, Warrick takes the readers on a harrowing journey from the slums of Amman to the inner chambers of the White House in an untold true story of miscalculation, deception, and revenge.
Book Synopsis Charlie Wilson's War by : George Crile
Download or read book Charlie Wilson's War written by George Crile and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 550 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes how, after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, maverick Texas congressman Charlie Wilson persuaded his colleagues to fund the CIA's efforts to arm the mujahideen and recounts the repercussions of that covert operation.
Download or read book Stinger written by Bill Fortin and published by . This book was released on 2018-02-12 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Action Adventure Historical Fiction: Cold War Publication 1982 - 1986
Book Synopsis And One More Thing Before You Go... by : Maria Shriver
Download or read book And One More Thing Before You Go... written by Maria Shriver and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2007-11-01 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning journalist, First Lady of California, and bestselling author Maria Shriver offers young women a powerful book on how to put your greatest gifts and even your shortcomings to work for you as you begin the rest of your life. Graduating from high school is a big step for any girl. She is leaving her childhood behind and beginning the rest of her life. She is also leaving her mother’s protective circle of love and guidance. One of the greatest gifts a mother can give her daughter at this pivotal moment in her life is good counsel. In And One More Thing Before You Go...Maria Shriver, bestselling author, acclaimed journalist, First Lady of California, and mother of two daughters, provides a loving and heartfelt guide for girls as they go off to college. Expanded from a speech given to her young friend Ally’s graduating class, Maria writes as a wiser, more experienced girlfriend, but also as both the daughter of a mother whose advice she still seeks and as the mother of daughters for whom she wishes a fulfilling and happy life. In this stirring and inspiring guide, Maria talks to young women about how to find abundance and emotional richness, and how not to overlook life’s most special gifts. Her ten rules—told in a witty and poignant anecdotal style—offer a firm grasp on what’s really important in life. And One More Thing Before You Go... is a book that transcends age groups, a book that will make you laugh, cry, and open your eyes to a new way of looking at life. Thoughtful, compassionate, and above all, filled with love, And One More Thing Before You Go... is a book that will make every mother cry and every daughter stop and think about her mother’s words.
Book Synopsis Century of War, A by : John V. Denson
Download or read book Century of War, A written by John V. Denson and published by Ludwig von Mises Institute. This book was released on 2006 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The horrors of the twentieth century could hardly have been predicted in the nineteenth century, which saw the eighteenth century end with the American Revolution bringing about the creation of the first classical liberal government in history. The twentieth century was the bloodiest in all history. More than 170 million people were killed by government with 10 million having been killed in World War I and 50 million killed in World War II. Of the 50 million killed in World War II, nearly 70 percent were innocent civilians.
Book Synopsis Charlie Wilson's War by : George Crile
Download or read book Charlie Wilson's War written by George Crile and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recounts the events surrounding the last battle of the Cold War and discusses how those events fueled the new jihad and led to the rise of militant Islam.
