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Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA | Tim Weiner
With shocking revelations that made headlines in papers across the country, Pulitzer-Prize-winner Tim Weiner gets at the truth behind the CIA and uncovers here why nearly every CIA Director has left the agency in worse shape than when he found it; and how these profound failures jeopardize our national security. From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Is the Central Intelligence Agency a bulwark of freedom against dangerous foes, or a malevolent conspiracy to spread American imperialism? A little of both, according to this absorbing study, but, the author concludes, it is mainly a reservoir of incompetence and delusions that serves no one's interests well. Pulitzer Prizewinning New York Times correspondent Weiner musters extensive archival research and interviews with top-ranking insiders, including former CIA chiefs Richard Helms and Stansfield Turner, to present the agency's saga as an exercise in trying to change the world without bothering to understand it. Hypnotized by covert action and pressured by presidents, the CIA, he claims, wasted its resources fomenting coups, assassinations and insurgencies, rigging foreign elections and bribing political leaders, while its rare successes inspired fiascoes like the Bay of Pigs and the Iran-Contra affair. Meanwhile, Weiner contends, its proper function of gathering accurate intelligence languished. With its operations easily penetrated by enemy spies, the CIA was blind to events in adversarial countries like Russia, Cuba and Iraq and tragically wrong about the crucial developments under its purview, from the Iranian revolution and the fall of communism to the absence of Iraqi WMDs. Many of the misadventures Weiner covers, at times sketchily, are familiar, but his comprehensive survey brings out the persistent problems that plague the agency. The result is a credible and damning indictment of American intelligence policy. (Aug. 7) Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Bookmarks Magazine Tim Weiner, multiple Pulitzer Prize winner, longtime New York Times reporter, and the author of Betrayal: The Story of Aldrich Ames, American Spy (1995) and Blank Check: The Pentagon's Black Budget (1991) hits his marks in Legacy of Ashes. Drawing on more than 50,000 documents and 300 on-the-record interviews with key players (10 of them former directors of the agency; all of the book's many notes and quotations are attributed), Weiner treats his subject with a ruthless, journalistic eye, skewering Republican and Democratic administrations alike for the CIA's slide into mediocrity. One critic finds a weakness in Weiner's exuberant dismantling of the old guard at the expense of more contemporary analysis. Still, this is an important book that will capture the attention of anyone interested in the CIA's checkered history. Copyright 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
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WarandWar
Pickpick

A great and highly through history of the CIA. While some parts have been disputed (see sections on Radio Free Europe), it for the most part is accurate, much to the CIA's dismay.

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CassieT
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

OOF. 21+ hours of cringes and what-the-hecks and rewinding to listen again. Tim Weiner spent years combing through declassified documents and interviewing key personalities. I definitely recommend this book. It‘s well-written, witty at times, incredibly thoroughly researched, and engaging. The narrator had the most wonderful voice. Just know that it might just put some tarnish on the shiny reputation of American intelligence...

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CassieT
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“The drive to penetrate the Iron Curtain had led the CIA to adopt the tactics of its enemies.” The argument could be made that this became permanent practice...agree/disagree?

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CassieT
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So far this book is one cringe after another as American and international recruits drop like flies in what they thought was their patriotic duty to battle Communism during the Cold War. But I‘ll say this—the man reading this has the best narrative voice I‘ve ever heard in an audiobook. So. There‘s that. 😳😬🤗

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Vivlio_Gnosi

Just added this 702 page #nonfiction #historical account of the #CIA to my #TBR stack. Can't wait!
#GreenvilleSC

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Vansa
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Vansa
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hhavel

Just to balance it out, there's a book with a much more sympathetic view towards the CIA and spy agencies in general. While it wasn't a very good book, it still deserves a read to see another side of the CIA. When it was released, it did become a national bestseller, by the way. It may be a good primer to other books about the CIA.

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Kimberlone
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First Litsy vacation post! Have been very busy traveling around and celebrating Christmas with my family, and honestly haven‘t gotten any reading done until today. Did some reading at the beach, but forgot to take a picture. The tagged book I read about 7 years ago staying at my uncle‘s condo on the Colombian coast. I think my older cousin had left it there a few years earlier. Very fascinating deep delve into the history of the CIA.

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Eugeniavb
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Day 28: Red.
I've been meaning to read this book forever because it sounds totally fascinating. I'll get around to it soon! Maybe 2018 will be the year 🙈 #readathon @DeweysReadathon #30daysofreadathon

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brendanmleonard
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Eyyyy it's round 3 of the #augustphotochallenge ! Since I realized a huge chunk of my nonfiction *is* political books, here are two stacks of my favorite topics: Cold War spies (left) and the 1960s (right). You can also see some of my other NF books in the background...including an A. Ham cameo (see if you can spot him). Anyway, I need to read some of these again - or for the first time (Robert Caro cough). #politicsandbooks #hamiljokes

LauraJ Legacy was good. Did you read Enemies? 8y
TheSpinecrackersBookClub Gorgeous stack! 8y
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Nebklvr
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Pickpick

This should keep you up nights. Ever wonder how we acquired so many enemies?.....

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CAGirlReading
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Pickpick

A very interesting book although parts of it felt more like a survey then an in depth analysis. Then again, it was already 600 pages so I can see why!

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CAGirlReading
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Really enjoying this so far, a history of an organization most Americans know little about but should...

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