Pulitzer-prize winning book by Steve Coll. Most comprehensive look at the history of Afghanistan and America's involvement over the last 30 years. Well-researched includes details of CIA intervention and support for the Mujahedeen in the war with the Soviets, America's abandonment after the Soviets retreated, the rise of the Taliban, and ultimately the emergence of al Qaeda. 30 years of civil war and counting, a truly unlucky country indeed.

This book had been on my "must read" list for a long time, and all I can say is that I can't believe I waited so long to read it. Coll's book is a shocking and at times extremely disturbing account of the actions of various governments and spy agencies from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to the events of 9/11. Given particular attention by Coll are the CIA, and the governments of the US, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and of course the Taliban. What emerges from Coll's meticulous research is a shocking and almost comedic set of mistakes made by virtually everyone involved with Afghanistan, from US presidents to CIA officers stationed in Pakistan. Coll appears to have had unparalleled access to classifed documents as well as interviews with many of the key players. What becomes apparent is that US funding of anti-communist "mujahedin" in Afghanistan is led, almost directly, to the birth of the Taliban, which in turn provided shelter to bin Laden, which in turn led to 9/11. Had the results of multiple failures of US policy and intelligence not led to such tragic circumstances, they would almost be funny, but no one escapes criticism in Coll's book. He rightly points out that both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were complicit in the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Afghanistan, and in particular the Saudis funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars to the Taliban. Just as disturbing as these governments' support of the Taliban was the willingness of successive US administrations to ignore both Saudi and Pakistani complicity in the rise of the Taliban. Coll even includes a fascinating chapter on the attempts of one US oil company to build a pipeline through Afghanistan. Coll's writing style is light and this book reads more like an extended article in a newspaper than anything else. The book follows a roughly chronological order and is easy to follow. I became so engaged with this book, I had trouble putting it down. I'm hard-pressed to find anything wrong with it, and if you want a book that perfectly tells you how the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan led almost directly to the events of 9/11, this is it. Easily one of the best books I've ever read.