Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times,   ISBN:B001GVJBPC

Customer Rating: 

Received item within specified delivery timeframe. Item received was as advertised condition. I was actually trying to find the mass market paperback ("regular" paperback size) edition of this book, but apparently it does not exist. Ordering and delivery were easy and on time.

Customer Rating: 

It has happened to me a few times in life that I've gotten into a car as a passenger, only to find out within minutes that the driver was reckless, intoxicated, or both. The subsequent ride provided a lot more excitement than was anticipated. I had somewhat the same sensation a few pages into Charlie Wilson's War: it's one wild ride.

The book is gonzo: sex, intrigue, fabulous wealth, lifestyles of the rich and famous, drugs, an intoxicated joy ride through the subterranean passages of American politics and foreign policy.

Many previous reviewers have gone into detail about the contents of Charlie Wilson's War, I'll try to keep things brief, here's the skinny:

It's a riveting well told story about one man that truly did, as the full title of the book indicates, change the history of our times. Read it, and you'll never look at Congress the same way again, nor will you ever read the headlines on U.S. foreign policy in the same way.

Charlie Wilson's War is a tribute to the concept that in America, a determined citizen can, depending on your political perspective, achieve enormous success, or wreak incredible havoc, or both simultaneously.

Bottom line: more thrills than a Clancy novel, a tale both inspiring and cautionary (do we really WANT to do foreign policy this way), finally, a story that goes on at least 150 pages longer than it needs to. Have a great ride!

Customer Rating: 

This book is to put it simply brilliant. The author manages to create a compelling and balanced story about one of the most significant chapters in recent history. Throughout the whole book I was torn. Mr. Wilson's inherent likeability comes through very clearly, as does the rough charm of his CIA cohort Gust Avrakatos. And yet at the same time these men and many others, broke, bent, skirted and ignored a large number of laws and procedures all in the name of ideology. And the net result while it may have dealt a significant blow to the then Soviets, it ultimately wound up damaging us as well. Frankly I think that Mr. Wilson and company should have been given a ticker tape parade down Main Street, and then locked up in prison for a number of years.

I feel that the author did a very credible job of reporting all the facts of the situation without trying to steer the reader towards one conclusion over another. Given how much, now more than ever good incisive investigation into recent actions by politicians is needed I mourn the authors recent passing.

Customer Rating: 

I read this book after hearing people talk about the movie over Christmas parties. I broke a rule and watched the movie as I read the book. If you thought the movie was wild - you have to read the book. The stuff this guy got away with was extraordinary.

I was amazed at the hypocrisy of our government and by the way the `rulers' feed information to those who they rule. At the same time Charlie Wilson was pushing $500 million per year (in the mid to late 80's mind you) to Afghanistan, the US Senate was investigating Oliver North and the Iran Contra dealings over a few hundred thousand.

I like the way it ended - in fact we did screw it up. We spend billions on defeating the Soviets in Afghanistan but we failed to help re-build the country. Could we have crushed the influence of the Taliban if we rebuilt the country? Who will ever know - but Wilson summed it up. To paraphrase - we won the war and screwed up the end game. How true. It was the only Cold War fight we won outright.

Good book - great read.

Customer Rating: 

This is a very interesting book filled with an insiders look into the CIA and covert operations. That said, it was hard for me - a book worm - to finish this book because it kept meandering all over the place with no clear, central storyline or continuity of direction. This will probably be one of the rare instances where the movie will probably be better than the book.