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The Fifth Act
- America’s End in Afghanistan
- Narrated by: Elliot Ackerman
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
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Publisher's summary
A Times Political Book of the Year 2022
A powerful and revelatory eyewitness account of the American collapse in Afghanistan, its desperate endgame, and the war’s echoing legacy.
Elliot Ackerman left the American military ten years ago, but his time in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Marines and, later, as a CIA paramilitary officer marked him indelibly. When the Taliban began to close in on Kabul in August of 2021 and the Afghan regime began its death spiral, he found himself pulled back into the conflict. The official evacuation process was a bureaucratic failure that led to a humanitarian catastrophe. Ackerman was drawn into an impromptu effort to arrange flights and negotiate with both Taliban and American forces to secure the safe evacuation of hundreds. These were desperate measures taken during a desperate end to America’s longest war, but the success they achieved afforded a degree of redemption: and, for Ackerman, a chance to reconcile his past with his present.
The Fifth Act is an astonishing human document that brings the weight of twenty years of war to bear on a single week at its bitter end. Using the dramatic rescue efforts in Kabul as his lattice, Ackerman weaves in a personal history of the war's long progress, beginning with the initial invasion in the months after 9/11.
It is a play in five acts with a tragic denouement. Any listener who wants to understand what went wrong with the war’s trajectory will find a trenchant accounting here. And yet The Fifth Act is not an exercise in finger-pointing: it brings listeners into close contact with a remarkable group of characters, who fought the war with courage and dedication, in good faith and at great personal cost. Understanding combatants’ experiences and sacrifices demands reservoirs of wisdom and the gifts of an extraordinary storyteller. In Elliot Ackerman, this story has found that author. The Fifth Act is a first draft of history that feels like a timeless classic.
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Critic reviews
"The American betrayal of Afghanistan took twenty years. Elliot Ackerman, a participant and witness, tells the story with unsparing honesty in this intensely personal chronicle." (George Packer, author of The Unwinding and Last Best Hope)
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"Making sense of chaos is never easy, but this powerful book does much to explain why America’s debacle in Afghanistan ended the way it did … Courage and folly, dedication and tragedy: Ackerman deftly captures all dimensions of a protracted foreign policy failure … A must-read account of the end of America’s longest war." (Kirkus Reviews)
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Story
In April 2021, an urgent call was placed from a Special Forces operator serving overseas. The message was clear: Get Nezam out of Afghanistan now. Nezam was part of the Afghan National Army’s first group of American-trained commandos; he passed through Fort Bragg’s legendary Q course and served alongside the US Special Forces for over a decade. But Afghanistan’s government and army were on the edge of collapse, and Nezam was receiving threatening texts from the Taliban.
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amazing, uplifting, heart wrenching
- By Lisa L. Weinley on 09-13-22
By: Scott Mann
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Foxtrot in Kandahar
- A Memoir of a CIA Officer in Afghanistan at the Inception of America’s Longest War
- By: Duane Evans
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Kandahar. The ancient desert crossroads and, as of fall of 2001, ground zero for the Taliban and al-Qa'ida in southern Afghanistan. In the northern part of the country, the US-supported Northern Alliance has made progress on the battlefield, but in the south, the country is still under the Taliban's bloody hold and al-Qa'ida continues to operate there. With no "Southern Alliance" for the US to support, a new strategy is needed if victory is to be achieved. Veteran CIA officer Duane Evans is dispatched to Pakistan to "get something going in the South." Foxtrot in Kandahar is his story.
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amazing story
- By Ryan Palmer on 10-05-18
By: Duane Evans
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Truth Worth Telling
- By: Scott Pelley
- Narrated by: Scott Pelley
- Length: 16 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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A 60 Minutes correspondent and former anchor of the CBS Evening News, Scott Pelley writes as a witness to events that changed our world. In moving, detailed prose, he stands with firefighters at the collapsing World Trade Center on 9/11, advances with American troops in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and reveals private moments with presidents (and would-be presidents) he’s known for decades. Pelley also offers a resounding defense of free speech and a free press as the rights that guarantee all others.
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A great listen... worth your time
- By Christina on 05-26-19
By: Scott Pelley
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The Operators
- The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan
- By: Michael Hastings
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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An explosive, behind-the-scenes look into the workings of the U.S. war in Afghanistan that lifts the curtain of the world stage to reveal the devastating greed, waste, and failure surrounding this unwinnable war.
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VERY INTERESTING STORY
- By Professor on 01-04-13
By: Michael Hastings
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Imperial Grunts
- On the Ground with the American Military, from Mongolia to the Philippines to Iraq and Beyond...
- By: Robert D. Kaplan
- Narrated by: John H. Mayer
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Plunging deep into midst of some of the hottest conflicts on the globe, Robert D. Kaplan takes us through mud and jungle, desert and dirt to the men and women on the ground who are leading the charge against threats to American security. These soldiers, fighting in thick Colombian jungles or on dusty Afghani plains, are the forefront of the new American foreign policy, a policy being implemented one soldier at a time.
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Excellent book
- By Rob on 10-03-05
By: Robert D. Kaplan
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Checkpoint Charlie
- The Cold War, the Berlin Wall, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth
- By: Iain MacGregor
- Narrated by: Dugald Bruce Lockhart
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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A powerful, fascinating, and groundbreaking history of Checkpoint Charlie, the famous military gate on the border of East and West Berlin where the US confronted the USSR during the Cold War.
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Hard to follow
- By J.Brock on 03-07-21
By: Iain MacGregor
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Eagle Down
- The Last Special Forces Fighting the Forever War
- By: Jessica Donati
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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A Wall Street Journal national security reporter takes listeners into the lives of US Special Forces on the front lines against the Taliban and Islamic State, where a new and covert war is keeping Afghanistan from collapse.
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Excellent depiction of the non tactical battle.
- By Paddy on 11-16-21
By: Jessica Donati
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The Targeter
- My Life in the CIA, Hunting Terrorists and Challenging the White House
- By: Nada Bakos, Davin Coburn
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1999, 30-year-old Nada Bakos moved from her lifelong home in Montana to Washington, DC, to join the CIA. Quickly realizing her affinity for intelligence work, Nada was determined to rise through the ranks of the agency first as an analyst and then as a Targeting Officer, eventually finding herself on the frontline of America's War against Islamic extremists. In this role, Nada was charged with determining if Iraq had a relationship with 9/11 and Al-Qaida, and finding the mastermind behind this terrorist activity: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
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Terrible book. Feminazi Propaganda
- By Dan Wells on 08-24-19
By: Nada Bakos, and others
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American Soldier
- By: General Tommy R. Franks, Malcolm McConnell
- Narrated by: Eric Conger
- Length: 19 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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The Commander in Chief of the United States Central Command from July 2000 through July 2003, General Tommy Franks made history leading American and Coalition forces to victory in Afghanistan and Iraq, the decisive battles that launched the war on terrorism.
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even more proud of our military
- By Brian on 08-12-04
By: General Tommy R. Franks, and others
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Saving Aziz
- How the Mission to Help One Became a Calling to Rescue Thousands from the Taliban
- By: Chad Robichaux, David L. Thomas - contributor, Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Chad Robichaux, Glenn Beck
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In Saving Aziz, Chad will give you a behind-the-scenes view of the evacuation efforts that saved thousands from the Taliban during the historic humanitarian crisis following the United States’ hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan.
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Blessed
- By Teri Herron on 02-01-23
By: Chad Robichaux, and others
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The Triple Agent
- The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA
- By: Joby Warrick
- Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In December 2009, a group of the CIA’s top terrorist hunters gathered at a secret base in Khost, Afghanistan, to greet a rising superspy: Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian double-agent who infiltrated the upper ranks of al-Qaeda. For months, he had sent shocking revelations from inside the terrorist network and now promised to help the CIA assassinate Osama bin Laden’s top deputy. Instead, as he stepped from his car, he detonated a 30-pound bomb strapped to his chest, instantly killing seven CIA operatives....
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Great modern history story
- By Melissa on 08-11-11
By: Joby Warrick
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First Casualty
- The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11
- By: Toby Harnden
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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This dramatic true story reveals the secret mission of the eight members of the CIA’s Team Alpha, the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11.
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Deeply researched
- By Jason G on 09-08-21
By: Toby Harnden
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My American Journey
- An Autobiography
- By: Colin Powell
- Narrated by: Colin Powell
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Abridged
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Colin Powell is the embodiment of the American dream. He was born in Harlem to immigrant parents from Jamaica. He knew the rough life of the streets. He overcame a barely average start at school. Then he joined the Army. The rest is history - including Vietnam, the Pentagon, Panama, and Desert Storm - but a history that until now has been known only on the surface.
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Audio book is abridged!
- By Lydia on 02-11-21
By: Colin Powell
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American Spartan
- The Promise, the Mission, and the Betrayal of Special Forces Major Jim Gant
- By: Ann Scott Tyson
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Danny Campbell
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Some have called him "Lawrence of Afghanistan". To the Pashtun tribesmen he is "Commander Jim", leader of the "bearded ones". He is Army Special Forces Major Jim Gant, one of the most charismatic and controversial U.S. commanders of modern memory, a man who changed the face of America's war in Afghanistan when his critical white paper, "One Tribe at a Time", went viral at the Pentagon, the White House, and on Capitol Hill in 2009.
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THE TRUE ARMY OF ONE!!!"THE SPARTAN"
- By Hunter on 07-17-14
By: Ann Scott Tyson
What listeners say about The Fifth Act
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Darya Silman
- 09-15-22
A lot to think about
I expected to find a personal recollection of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. In some instances, my expectations were exceeded: the author's reflections on modern wars that can't be won and his comparison of Vietnam war with Afghanistan leave a lot to think about. However, the factual, personal part concerning Afghanistan war contains confusing jumps in time, from 2001 to 2021. Recollections are the most memorable events of the author's 20 years in military: first as an infantryman, then in Marine corps, then in CIA. The withdrawal itself happened after the author left active duty, but through hia connections, he took part in exfiltration of American allies from Kabul.
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