Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History

Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History

Author	George Crile III
Language	English
Subject	Operation Cyclone
Genre	Non-Fiction
Set in	United States, Soviet Afghanistan
Publisher	Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication date	2003
Publication place	United States
Media type	Book
Pages	560
ISBN	978-0871138545

Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History (later titled 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) is a 2003 book by George Crile III. Upon publication, the book received praise from The New York Times, making it onto their best seller list. The book was also placed on Washington Post and Los Angeles Times best seller lists.

It details U.S. Representative Charlie Wilson's role in providing assistance to the Afghan Mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War.^[1] The book depicts the Texas Congressman’s role in facilitating the CIA-led Operation Cyclone, a covert mission within Afghanistan. Wilson solicited the aid of CIA officer Gust Avrakotos, a member of a small team at the agency assigned to the Afghanistan portfolio, as well as then-CIA weapons specialist Mike Vickers. This operation would become one of the largest military operations ever undertaken by the CIA, spanning 13 years and running into the hundreds of millions of dollars.^[2] The book was based upon a series of interviews conducted by American journalist George Crile III, a producer for 60 Minutes.^[1] The book was received very positively in post-9/11 America, as the book presented the public with undisclosed information about the United States' dealings with the Afghan Mujahideen.^[3] Crile's book also details significant events that occurred over the course of the 13 years, how Charlie Wilson was able to run a covert war with very little oversight.

It was adapted into the 2007 Mike Nichols film Charlie Wilson's War, in which Wilson was portrayed by Tom Hanks. The film went on to receive multiple Golden Globe award nominations.