Steve Coll Books in Order

Coll traces the antitrust battle that dismantled AT&T's telephone monopoly, following the lawyers, executives, judges, and politicians involved. Boardroom decisions and courtroom struggles show how the breakup reshaped a major corporation and the American telecommunications industry.

Drawing on his reporting journeys across South Asia, Coll examines everyday lives amid violence, corruption, and political conflict. Encounters in countries including India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan connect regional tensions with the experiences of people living through them.

Coll investigates the covert wars in Afghanistan, from the Soviet invasion through the years preceding September 11. Government and intelligence accounts trace the CIA's involvement, the Taliban's rise, and failed American efforts to counter Osama bin Laden.

This family history follows the Bin Ladens' rise from modest Yemeni origins to wealth and influence in Saudi Arabia. Coll examines their business interests and varied relationships with the West, placing Osama bin Laden within a much broader family story.

Coll investigates ExxonMobil's corporate power and its relationship with American politics and foreign policy. Following events from the Exxon Valdez disaster to the Deepwater Horizon era, he examines executives, international operations, and the company's influence in countries where it works.

Coll recounts the struggle for Getty Oil amid family disputes and boardroom turmoil after J. Paul Getty's death. The competing ambitions of Pennzoil and Texaco turn a corporate acquisition into a legal battle over business agreements and enormous stakes.

Coll examines American intelligence operations and the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2001 to 2016. The account focuses on conflicting objectives, especially Pakistan's secretive Directorate S, and the decisions that undermined cooperation between nominal allies.

Steve Coll examines the troubled relationship between Saddam Hussein and the United States before the 2003 invasion. Unpublished records and interviews reveal how secrecy, mistaken assumptions, and political vanity helped produce catastrophic failures of diplomacy and intelligence.