Legacy of Ashes

The History of the CIA

By: Tim Weiner

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 21 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

National Book Award Winner, Nonfiction, 2007

This is the book the CIA does not want you to read. For the last 60 years, the CIA has maintained a formidable reputation in spite of its terrible record, never disclosing its blunders to the American public. It spun its own truth to the nation while reality lay buried in classified archives. Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Tim Weiner offers a stunning indictment of the CIA, a deeply flawed organization that has never deserved America's confidence.

Legacy of Ashes is based on more than 50,000 documents, primarily from the archives of the CIA. Everything is on the record. There are no anonymous sources, no blind quotations. With shocking revelations that will make headlines, Tim Weiner gets at the truth and tells us how the CIA's failures have profoundly jeopardized our national security.

©2007 Tim Weiner (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"Absorbing...a credible and damning indictment of American intelligence policy." ( Publishers Weekly)
"A timely, immensely readable, and highly critical history of the CIA, culminating with the most recent catastrophic failures in Iraq." (Mark Bowden, author of Blackhawk Down)

Stellar info

This was an eye opening book about the successes and failures of the CIA. Sadly, the failures far outweigh the successes because there are too many arrogant leaders in the US government, the CIA and the military. It’s also because the CIA has too many newbies (at the books publication date) and the private intelligence companies are recruiting away the best talent.
We need to do better and be better or America will go the way of all the other arrogant countries in history.

Very interesting

Information that is not know to the general public. Ineptitude to the fullest by people we are supposed to trust.

Fantastic Read

I've done a whole lot of reading on the IC from a number of authors, and this one has made its way to the top of my list. A fantastic read on the history of the intelligence service, covert action programs, and American foreign policy. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in these subjects.

You’re Out if Your Element

A fascinating and richly detailed story of American espionage and intelligence. Makes one ponder an intelligence apparatus more befitting of America’s strengths.

Details not revealed before

Couldn’t stop listening. May have to revisit. Oof even Eisenhower & Kennedy used CIA for illegal activities. Narrator is top notch. I wish author would post addendum to update thoughts since his 2008 sign off. We certainly can’t wonder why other countries don’t trust us esp China, Russia, Latin America. They all have better memories than Americans.

Time gives perspective, and is a luxury we are afforded by the author’s hard work.

The author attempts to condense 60 years of history of a widely misunderstood organization into about 21 hours of listening time. There are many topics that you wish you could jump back in time to witness to see how these figures made their decisions, and in my opinion the author does a good job of giving you a look at these figures and their decisions through the shade of the intelligence agency. While it seems like a simple history book, the nature of it’s topic is quite alluring to those who want to gain perspective on the modern world and the position we find ourselves at in the 21st century.

eye opening

Tim Weiner reveals truths about our government, and the CIA in particular, that tie together seemlingly unrelated historical events into a larger portrait of good-intentioned failure on the part of the CIA. Explains a lot about how and why America got involved in Korea, Vietnam, Watergate, Iran-Contra, the bombing of the Cole, 9/11, and the Iraq War. Definitely recommend.

Compelling

Excellent history, profoundly important because of the nature of undercover operations. Shows the limits of such activity which seems to ensure blowback and unintended consequences.

Non-fiction History of the FBI

Legacy of Ashes goes back more than 8 years in my Audible library. It is a critical history of the FBI from its founding through 2006 written by journalist Tim Weiner. It is an excellent and continuously interesting history if not a great one. Highly recommended.

Disturbing

It somehow gives me hope that the CIA has done the things described in this book and the planet still remains. There is a lot here, and a lot of players to keep track of, but while it might give you nightmares, this one will not bore you. The narrator, whose tone is slightly reminiscent of Leonard Nimoy, has an annoying tendancy to try and impersonate some of the individuals quoted to no particular benefit, but besides that, this is a terrific package.