Legacy of Ashes Audiobook By Tim Weiner cover art

Legacy of Ashes

The History of the CIA

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Legacy of Ashes

By: Tim Weiner
Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
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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.

Accolades & Awards

National Book Award
2007
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
2007
Los Angeles Times Book Prize National & International Security National Book Award Politics & Government United States Intelligence & Espionage National Security Freedom & Security Middle East Iran Espionage War Vietnam War Thought-Provoking Americas Military Imperial Japan Inspiring

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)
Comprehensive History • Detailed Research • Excellent Narration • Fascinating Revelations • Well-documented Evidence

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This book should be read by anyone interested in the history of the CIA. I have rated this five stars, but this is not the perfect book, just a must read. The author clearly focuses only upon the failures of the CIA and glosses over any successes. Nevertheless, there is substantial value is focusing on failures (of course there is also value is focusing on successes, but that would be a different book). This book also does not seem to go out of its way to suggest tangible changes to improve the CIA.

The material is somewhat dry, and there is some jumping around. The narration is quite good, which helps keep the book interesting. This is not the best book about the CIA, but it is an indispensable viewpoint for anyone who wants to understand the agency.

Flawed but Important

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What seemed to be a compelling tale of the CIA is in fact delivered as a recitation of their failures. The framing isn't so much of a problem as how it is written and performed, a dry reading of official documentation with little in the way of context, and a monotonous, if sonorous, delivery.

Meh

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This is simply the finest audiobook I have ever listened to about the CIA and the political environment in Washington. The author takes great pains to provide unvarnished and untainted facts about how the CIA has become an emasculated intelligence agency that has lost its sense of purpose and direction.
When I first started listening, I thought Weiner was taking partisan swipes at the republican presidents and politicians; however I quickly discovered he is completely apolitical in his analysis of the mostly inept and certainly ill-conceived presidential orders with which the agency was saddled.
Moreover, Weiner conveys to the reader just how incapable, recalcitrant and uninformed many of the agencies directors were and apparently are. Example after example is cited in the book of rouge agents, dishonest politicians, shoddy congressional oversight and presidential indifference.
This book stunned me, depressed me and frankly scared the hell out of me. It will leave you with so many questions that you will not stop thinking about it for days afterward.
Bravo Mr. Weiner, I hope this book becomes required reading for any Political Science student; for that matter, all students and US Citizens.

Thank you Mr. Weiner...this book is five stars!

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This book is a surprisingly refreshing look at the often revered American intelligence community. It's non-partisan and thoughtful insight into the history of the CIA is an must listen for anyone who cares about the future of the United States.

An Amazingly Comprehensive Indictment

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After reading this any notions that the United States was good at spying was washed away.

Should the CIA exist at all?

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