The director of the American-Afghan war describes how he orchestrated the defeat of the Taliban in the region by forging separate alliances with warlords, Taliban dissidents, and the Pakistani intelligence service.

Includes index.

Inflection point. The plan ; The subversive -- The road to war : Pakistan, the Taliban, and al-Qa'ida. The best of times ; Warnings and forebodings ; Romancing the Taliban ; The war that never was ; The outlier ; Countdown -- The first American-Afghan War. Non-negotiable demands ; Charting the course ; Perfidious Albion ; A dip in the shark tank ; Vox clamantis ; A fall from grace ; The wages of sin ; Son of kings ; No return ; Son of the lion ; "As flies to wanton boys ..." ; The ambush ; Dress rehearsal ; Nuclear nightmares ; The prodigal ; Enemies without, enemies within ; Salvation ; Entering the rapids ; Cataract ; A wilderness of mirrors; Redemption and vindication ; Serendipity to inevitability ; Earthly rewards ; Badlands ; Twin reprieves ; The convergence ; The escape -- Pakistan, Al-Qa'ida, and the wider war. The czar ; Distraction in the east ; Days of hope and promise ; The poet ; The public and the personal ; The reckoning ; The sage ; Flirting with Armageddon -- Once and future wars. Premonitions ; The unraveling ; Acceptance.