The result of Charlie Wilson's obsession was eventually 25,000 dead Russian soldiers...and a profoundly changed world.
I have just three words to emphasis: Read. The. Book. It is simply terrific.
For some historical perspective on Afghanistan and its role as a crossroads of empire (and a relentless eater of foreign armies) , I highly recommend Peter Hopkirk's The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia, and that timeless classic Kim by Rudyard Kipling. You may also want to consult this chap...
For a slightly different, very moving and evocative take on Afghanistan check out An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan by Jason Elliot, a first-rate travel book that was published just after 9-11.
For more on Afghanistan check out Afghanistan Online , the CIA World Factbook , Afghanistan News Net and Afghanistan's Website .
Interested in what Afghanistan looks like? Be sure to check out National Geographic's Afghanistan in Crisis site. Also check out the University of Texas's Afghanistan Map Collection and get a look at life in Afghanistan here, here and here.
As a crossroads between Islam and Buddhism, Afghanistan and Central Asia are a priceless archaeological treasure trove, albeit one that has been difficult, if not impossible to study in recent years. Find out more at Central Asia Archaeology or if you are feeling ambitious, read another solid work by Peter Hopkirk called Foreign Devils on the Silk Road: The Search for the Lost Cities and Treasures of Chinese Central Asia.
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Article comments
1 - Chinaboy
Good article, I am fan into China art stuff
2 - Terry Parkhurst
This is perhaps the best work of non-fiction, or certainly one of the best, in the past 10 years. It reads almost like a novel. Charlie Wilson is a character so grandiose and yet plebian at the same moment, he is almost unbelievable.
This book also gives amazing insight into why September 11, 2001 happened. While we can't blame that day of 21st Century infamy on former Congressman Wilson, the Afghan war is where Osama bin Laden got his start as a soldier; and where a man whose name escapes me, once prided by the CIA as one of their most effective trainees, turned into one of the most wanted criminals for the United States forces, after September 11. In one of the final chapters, it states that on that day, Charlie Wilson simply thought straightaway, "They did it (to us)." This book is one every American should read, no matter how long it might take them. Buy this book, turn off the television and read it. It is about 600 pages and will likely take more than one setting; but it is time well spent.