recalled. "I was in a robe at first because, after all, I was a congressman. And then everyone disappeared except for two beautiful, long-legged showgirls with high heels... they walked right into the water with their high heels on.

It was total happiness. And both of them had ten long, red fingernails with an endless supply of beautiful white powder. It was... better than anything you've ever seen in the movies."

Quite. But there is a dark side to Charlie Wilson's War (left). He and his CIA buddies ignored the suffering left by their triumph and failed to anticipate the 'blow-back' that created the Taliban and the terrorist training camps of al-Qaeda.

So Wilson is both a hero of the Cold War and a villain of the War on Terror, a double-barreled role that exactly matches his larger-than-life character. Would we all be better off with the whiskey-swilling, skirt-chasing, couldn't give-a-damn Good Time Charlie than the teetotal, self-righteous fellow currently in charge? At least Charlie won one war.
Charlie Wilson's War opens in the UK on January 11