<![CDATA[Legacy of Ashes: the History of the CIA]]>

false <![CDATA[Legacy of Ashes: the History of the CIA]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179895055m/970488.jpg 970488 21 For the last sixty years, the CIA has managed to maintain a formidable reputation in spite of its terrible record, burying its blunders in top-secret archives. Its mission was to know the world. When it did not succeed, it set out to change the world. Its failures have handed us, in the words of President Eisenhower, “a legacy of ashes.” Now Pulitzer Prize–winning author Tim Weiner offers the first definitive history of the CIA—and everything is on the record. LEGACY OF ASHES is based on more than 50,000 documents, primarily from the archives of the CIA itself, and hundreds of interviews with CIA veterans, including ten Directors of Central Intelligence. It takes the CIA from its creation after World War II, through its battles in the cold war and the war on terror, to its near-collapse after 9/ll. Tim Weiner’s past work on the CIA and American intelligence was hailed as “impressively reported” and “immensely entertaining” in The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal called it “truly extraordinary . . . the best book ever written on a case of espionage.” Here is the hidden history of the CIA: why eleven presidents and three generations of CIA officers have been unable to understand the world; why nearly every CIA director has left the agency in worse shape than he found it; and how these failures have profoundly jeopardized our national security. 2202139 book 28 6 2007 Legacy of Ashes: the History of the CIA total:955|5:224|4:429|3:225|2:58|1:19| 955 3646 2079 276 5 6 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 04 10:55:40 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 22 10:11:36 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 2 false false Thu May 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 13 11:49:54 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 11:58:11 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 12 07:04:58 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 29 12:34:22 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 30 14:23:50 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 30 14:24:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 20 18:50:53 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 03 08:40:02 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Jul 01 16:23:41 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 01 16:26:36 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 03 14:20:53 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 03 14:21:37 -0800 2009
TIM WEINER

America’s foes and rivals have long overrated the CIA. When Henry Kissinger traveled to China in 1971, Prime Minister Chou En-lai asked about the CIA. Kissinger told Chou that he “vastly overestimates the competence of th...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 13 17:24:47 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 13 17:24:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Apr 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 08:12:24 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 08:55:19 -0700 2009
I bought this book because I am interested in the subject, but also because I ...more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 10:01:54 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 10:01:54 -0800 2009 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 ...

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The author does a great job of covering the CIA's story, breaking it down into different eras, generally by who was in charge of the CIA at the time. He describes the e...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Feb 14 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 09:10:48 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 16:43:52 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 1 true true Sun Feb 17 06:09:28 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 06:11:58 -0800 2008 Based comnpletely on archives, it makes a lot of sense.
Wrong focus. Waste a lot of resrouces. Get stupid. And focus on getting everyone to think you are really, really smart. ...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Mar 15 08:57:53 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 15 09:03:56 -0700 2009
And depressing too.

But must reading for anyone interested in American history.

What a disaster the CIA has been from its inception under Harry Truman.

It has failed to be aware of any important change coming in ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jul 02 15:31:03 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 15:31:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Dec 08 21:25:57 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 09 07:42:11 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 09:59:46 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 07:44:49 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 04 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Dec 13 11:51:42 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 04 18:06:49 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=970488