Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
by Tim Weiner
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Book Reviews of Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA
Book Review: Excellent discussion of the CIA
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a fairly comprehensive study of the CIA and its history. The author has added very extensive endnotes. It evenly covers the sixty year history of the agency and the various manifestations. The most interesting past is the beginning sections, where the author relies on recent declassified documents. The book is not without its faults the author has it's bias of the concept of "original sin" - the agency was designed poorly from the beginning and the founding fathers of the CIA laid the basis for future disaster. This is an arguable premise, but the author attacks with a little too much zeal. He is also sometimes a bit sympathetic for the more modern CIA staff and directors - remember that he has spent 20 years covering the CIA as a journalist, and he starts relying more on interviews of Tenet, etc. Despite this, it deserves a five star rating and should be on the list of recent required reading.Book Review: Savage indictment of CIA incompetence
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a gripping -- and incidentally most amusing -- compilation of the greatest mistakes made by the CIA, which (if you believe the author) is an organisation that sucks up billions of dollars a year and is almost totally useless. Virtually everything the CIA touched turned into a disaster and its much vaunted analysts missed many historic and important developments. I gave this four stars rather than five because (a) I can't believe there weren't at least some successes along the way and (b) the author keeps telling us that whenever a new director took over, he had to deal with the fact that all the top talents had left. By rights this means that these days the CIA is staffed only by people who can barely tie their shoes. I'm not sure I quite believe that is the case.Book Review: Spooks.
Summary: 4 Stars
Very interesting book, especially for one who has lived through most of this history. Jumps around a bit chronologically. Confirms what other Agencies & Dept's. claim, i.e., none of our governmental agencies communicate with each other to the detriment of national security. A lot of "turf wars."
CIA operations were not well thought out, very shallow and as Dick Holm was quoted during the Kennedy years, he rued "the ignorance and the arrogance of Americans arriving in SE Asia...We had only minimal understanding of the history, culture, & politics of the people we wanted to aid..." Some personnel in our various Agencies now try to remedy this attitude, by achieving a greater understanding of these things.
Book Review: Screwed since its inception.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have not quite finished this book yet, as I am so damn mad with each page I read. I can only consume several pages at a time before I have to stop, pissing mad! You will not believe the "behind-the-back" actions of this agency, which should be immediately disbanded. It sneaks behind the back of presidents, interferes with other countries unnecessarily, spends money like a sieve and has many, many murders to their name and is not accountable to anyone. It really needs to be dismembered in total and chopped into very small, unusable parts forever. It is one of mankind's worst creations.Book Review: CIA Insight
Summary: 5 Stars
I've followed the CIA and the many missteps for some time. Weiner gives us a comprehensive report on the machinations of the CIA - some successes, many failures. He details the personalities of many of the characters that inhabited the agency, some weird souls indeed. The extensive note section ( 170 pages) supports the depth of his research. His account differs from some other reports, particularly the involvement of Jack and Robert Kennedy. Much of this information has remained hidden until very recently. This readable book sheds some much needed light on the operation of spook city.