Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

from patienceltd

This is the book to read if you want a sweeping overview of the hubris, ignorance, and sheer destructiveness of American covert action since the inception of the CIA. The book suffers somewhat from the sheer volume of the material (which simultaneously hides some omissions and falsehoods) and a h...

from dickmanikowski

Exhaustive history of the Central Intelligence Agency, tracing its ups and downs and its few successes and many failures. The allegations of political interference by virtually every presidential administration are highly disturbing, as are the tales of field agents running their own covert opera...

from Alex1952

This is a book worth reading if you are interested in understanding the misguided foreign policy of the United States since WWII and the major role the CIA played in it. The book starts at the end of WWII and ends around 2007. Although many of the events described would be known to people that fo...

from jcvogan1

Using only publicly available sources the author covers the CIA from the post war period through 2006. The main thesis is that the CIA is incompetent and always has been. Argument is very persuasive that the early CIA was a disaster as it focused on paramilitary activities. Much less is discussed...

from Richj

An important book. Lays out the role and (mostly) the failures of the CIA. If you want to know if Congress was lied to, this is the book to read (the answer is yes -- for decades) Written and edited well enough to make it worthwhile to read such a tome.