Legacy of ashes : the history of the CIA / Tim Weiner ; [with a new afterword].
A New York Times reporter offers an indictment of the CIA and its intelligence-gathering capabilities as he traces the history of the organization from the end of World War II to Iraq, in a study that condemns the CIA for its record, its inability to understand world affairs, the violence it has unleashed, and its undermining of American politics.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780307389008
- ISBN: 0307389006
- Physical Description: xxii, 812 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm
- Edition: First Anchor Books edition
- Publisher: New York : Anchor Books, 2008.
Content descriptions
- Bibliography, etc. Note:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 607-778) and index.
- Formatted Contents Note:
- "In the beginning, we knew nothing" : the CIA under Truman, 1945-1953 -- "A strange kind of genius" : the CIA under Eisenhower, 1953 to 1961 -- Lost causes : the CIA under Kennedy and Johnson, 1961 to 1968 -- "Get rid of the clowns" : the CIA under Nixon and Ford, 1968 to 1977 -- Victory without joy : the CIA under Carter, Reagan, and George H.W. Bush, 1977 to 1993 -- The reckoning : the CIA under Clinton and George W. Bush, 1993 to 2007.Intelligence must be global and totalitarian -- The logic of force -- Fight fire with fire -- The most secret thing -- A rich blind man -- They were suicide missions -- A vast field of illusion -- We have no plan -- CIA's greatest single triumph -- Bomb repeat bomb -- And then we'll have a storm -- We ran it in a different way -- Wishful blindness -- Ham-handed operations of all kinds -- A very strange war -- He was lying down and he was lying up -- Nobody knew what to do -- We had also fooled ourselves -- We'd be delighted to trade those missiles -- Hey, boss, we did a good job, didn't we? -- I thought it was a conspiracy -- An ominous drift -- More courage than wisdom -- The beginning of a long slide downwards -- We knew then that we could not win the war -- A political H-bomb -- Track down the foreign communists -- What the hell do those clowns do out there in Langley? -- USG wants a military solution -- We are going to catch a lot of hell -- To change the concept of a secret service -- A classic fascist ideal -- The CIA would be destroyed -- Saigon signing off -- Ineffective and scared -- He sought to overthrow their system -- We were just plain asleep -- A free-lance buccaneer -- In a dangerous way -- He was running a great risk -- A con man's con man -- To think the unthinkable -- What are we going to do when the wall comes down? -- We had no facts -- Why in the world didn't we know? -- We're in trouble -- The threat could not be more real -- The dark side -- A grave mistake -- The burial ceremony.
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- 3 of 4 copies available at NC Cardinal.
- 1 of 1 copy available at McDowell County Public Library. (Show)
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Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marion Library | 327.127 WEI (Text) | 37810435632202 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Goldsboro Library | 327.127 WEI (Text) | 640191003142369 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| Lee County Main Library | 327.127W (Text) | 33262003149553 | Adult Nonfiction | Available | - |
| West Asheville Library | 327.1273009 WEI (Text) | 0020512824192 | Adult Nonfiction | Checked out | 08/21/2026 |
Accessibility Features
Summary:
A New York Times reporter offers an indictment of the CIA and its intelligence-gathering capabilities as he traces the history of the organization from the end of World War II to Iraq, in a study that condemns the CIA for its record, its inability to understand world affairs, the violence it has unleashed, and its undermining of American politics.
