I. Moscow, Washington, Lahore : 1979-2000 -- Soviet troops out of Afghanistan! -- Between the hammer and the anvil -- The arrival of the Taliban -- 'Try and disarm us if you can' -- II. Operation enduring disaster : 2001-08 -- Into Pakistan's maelstrom -- The king of greater Afghanistan -- The dam will burst sooner or later -- So, was it worth it? -- The terror trail -- A doomed mission -- A favourite attack dog in the imperial kennel -- Mirage of the good war -- Why a 'surge' would bring fresh disasters -- III. AF-PAK is burning : 2008-11 -- Next door to war -- The American war moves to Pakistan -- On the north-west frontier -- Imperial diktats -- A war gone badly wrong -- It's no secret what Pakistan's been doing with the Taliban -- 'Why kill the goose?' -- The Abbottabad incident -- More cover-up than self-criticism -- Breaches of sovereignty -- IV. Impending defeat : 2012-21 -- Obama's only way out of Afghanistan is to talk -- The not-so-lone gunman -- Pakistan's future is tied to the Taliban -- Twenty years after 9/11.