Inflection point. The plan ; The subversive -- The road to war : Pakistan, the Taliban, and al-Qa'ida. The best of times ; Warnings and forebodings ; Romancing the Taliban ; The war that never was ; The outlier ; Countdown -- The first American-Afghan War. Non-negotiable demands ; Charting the course ; Perfidious Albion ; A dip in the shark tank ; Vox clamantis ; A fall from grace ; The wages of sin ; Son of kings ; No return ; Son of the lion ; "As flies to wanton boys..." ; The ambush ; Dress rehearsal ; Nuclear nightmares ; The prodigal ; Enemies without, enemies within ; Salvation ; Entering the rapids ; Cataract ; A wilderness of mirrors; Redemption and vindication ; Serendipity to inevitability ; Earthly rewards ; Badlands ; Twin reprieves ; The convergence ; The escape -- Pakistan, Al-Qa'ida, and the wider war. The czar ; Distraction in the east ; Days of hope and promise ; The poet ; The public and the personal ; The reckoning ; The sage ; Flirting with Armageddon -- Once and future wars. Premonitions ; The unraveling ; Acceptance.