Description
For more than sixty years, the CIA has projected an aura of competence while wrestling with a record of costly misjudgments and institutional blind spots. Drawing on tens of thousands of declassified documents and extensive interviews with CIA veterans—including senior leaders—this sweeping history traces how the agency’s drive to “know the world” repeatedly collided with political pressure, flawed assumptions, and the limits of intelligence itself. Tim Weiner reveals how major decisions and internal culture shaped outcomes across multiple administrations, exploring the human stakes behind tradecraft, secrecy, and accountability. A compelling narrative of power and consequence, the book examines themes of institutional failure, the politics of information, and how national security can be endangered when truth is buried or distorted.
Available Editions
paperback
Vintage
Published May 20, 2008
850 pages
ISBN: 9780307389008
paperback
Doubleday
Published Jun 28, 2007
702 pages
ISBN: 9780385514453
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Details
First Published
2007
Language
eng
Content Warnings
Content and trigger warnings for Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner.