Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Epigraph

Prologue

PART I GOOD MEN ARE HARD TO FIND: THE CREW

   1. The Devil’s Greatest Trick: Over Kabul

   2. What Am I Doing Here? Serbia, 1998

PART II EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG: THE USSR

   3. The Lost Boys: Soviet Union, 1992

   4. The Machine: Post-Soviet Russia, Early 1990s

   5. The Birth of the Global Network: Russia, 1993

   6. The Warlord Is Always Right: The Caucasus, 1994

   7. Rogue State: Yugoslavia, 1994–1996

PART III GOLD FEVER: THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

   8. The Men with No Names: The Arab Gulf, 1995–1997

   9. This Is How You Disappear: West Africa, 1995–1999

 10. Plunder in the Jungle: The Congo, 1997–2000

 11. Men of Wealth and Taste: Milan, 2000

PART IV HIGH AND WILD: AFGHANISTAN TO IRAQ

 12. The Boys Are Back in Town: Afghanistan, 2001

 13. Afghan Black: The Drug Pipeline, 2002–2010

 14. There Are Huge Forces: Afghanistan, 1995 and 2010

PART V BACK TO THE JUNGLE: CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE HORN OF AFRICA

 15. High Times on the Costa Coca: Central America, 1999–2008

 16. Welcome to Little Minsk: Africa, 2003

 17. Russian Rain Keeps Falling: The Congo, 2005–2009

 18. Just Drop the Cash out of the Plane: Uganda, 2009

 19. Getting Your Kicks on Route Il-76: Central Asia and the Caucasus, 2009

PART VI THE JOURNEY HOME: EAST AFRICA AND RUSSIA

 20. The Ghost Factory: Russia, 2008

 21. Death and Taxes: Entebbe to Ekaterinburg, 2010

 22. The Gathering Darkness: Russia, 2010

Author’s Note

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

A Note on the Author

Imprint