Gary C. Schroen's astonishing new book tells the story of how a handful of CIA agents led the initial post-Sept. 11 charge against al Qaeda and its Taliban patrons, far outstripping the agency's lumbering competitor, the U.S. military. The CIA, which had been working with Afghan assets since the 1980s jihad against the Soviet occupation, was quick out of the blocks after the 2001 terrorist attacks; the U.S. military, despite having bombed al Qaeda camps in August 1998, had no off-the-shelf invasion plans and had to scurry to the drawing board. The Pentagon's Special Operations units would hook up with their CIA counterparts weeks later. By underscoring that gap, the pointedly named First In will make Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld grind his teeth.

The staggering detail in these pages -- operational, geopolitical -- makes First In unlike any other CIA memoir.