AUDIOBOOK
About
This is the book the CIA does not want you to read. For over sixty 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 fifty thousand 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 how the CIA's failures have profoundly jeopardized our national security. AUTHOR'S NOTE
PART ONE In the Beginning, We Knew Nothing The CIA Under Truman, 1945 to 1953 1. INTELLIGENCE MUST BE GLOBAL AND TOTALITARIAN
2. THE LOGIC OF FORCE
3. FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE
4. THE MOST SECRET THING
5. A RICH BLIND MAN
6. THEY WERE SUICIDE MISSIONS
7. A VAST FIELD OF ILLUSION
PART TWO A Strange Kind of Genius The CIA Under Eisenhower, 1953 to 19618. WE HAVE NO PLAN
9. CIA'S GREATEST SINGLE TRIUMPH
10. BOMB REPEAT BOMB
11. AND THEN WE'LL HAVE A STORM
12. WE RAN IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY
13. WISHFUL BLINDNESS
14. HAM-HANDED OPERATIONS OF ALL KINDS
15. A VERY STRANGE WAR
16. HE WAS LYING DOWN AND HE WAS LYING UP
PART THREE Lost Causes The CIA Under Kennedy and Johnson, 1961 to 1968 17. NOBODY KNEW WHAT TO DO
18. WE HAD ALSO FOOLED OURSELVES
19. WE'D BE DELIGHTED TO TRADE THOSE MISSILES
20. HEY, BOSS, WE DID A GOOD JOB, DIDN'T WE?
21. I THOUGHT IT WAS A CONSPIRACY
22. AN OMINOUS DRIFT
23. MORE COURAGE THAN WISDOM
24. THE BEGINNING OF A LONG SLIDE DOWNWARDS
25. WE KNEW THEN THAT WE COULD NOT WIN THE WAR
26. A POLITICAL H-BOMB
27. TRACK DOWN THE FOREIGN COMMUNISTS
PART FOUR Get Rid of the Clowns The CIA Under Nixon and Ford, 1968 to 1977 28. WHAT THE HELL DO THOSE CLOWNS DO OUT THERE IN LANGLEY?
29. USG WANTS A MILITARY SOLUTION
30. WE ARE GOING TO CATCH A LOT OF HELL
31. TO CHANGE THE CONCEPT OF A SECRET SERVICE
32. A CLASSIC FASCIST IDEAL
33. THE CIA WOULD BE DESTROYED
34. SAIGON SIGNING OFF
35. INEFFECTIVE AND SCARED
PART FIVE Victory Without Joy The CIA Under Carter, Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, 1977 to 1993 36. HE SOUGHT TO OVERTHROW THEIR SYSTEM
37. WE WERE JUST PLAIN ASLEEP
38. A FREELANCE BUCCANEER
39. IN A DANGEROUS WAY
40. HE WAS RUNNING A GREAT RISK
41. A CON MAN'S CON MAN
42. TO THINK THE UNTHINKABLE
43. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WHEN THE WALL COMES DOWN?
PART SIX The Reckoning The CIA Under Clinton and George W. Bush, 1993 to 2007 44. WE HAD NO FACTS
45. WHY IN THE WORLD DIDN'T WE KNOW?
46. WE'RE IN TROUBLE
47. THE THREAT COULD NOT BE MORE REAL
48. THE DARK SIDE
49. A GRAVE MISTAKE
50. THE BURIAL CEREMONY
AFTERWORD
"For an important book like this one, it's important for an audiobook narrator to have a certain gravitas, and Rudnicki has plenty…Rudnicki is one of the best narrators in the business and he's in top form here-Legacy of Ashes is one of the best audiobooks of the year."
"Deeply researched…Impressively studied…Provides new insights and details."
"The best…ever written on a case of espionage."
"The epigrammatic style, hard edge and caustic bite of a first-rate detective novel."
"Tough, fair-minded…Exceptional in the annals of spy literature for not citing a single anonymous source."
"[An] absorbing study…Weiner musters extensive archival research and interviews with top-ranking insiders…to present the agency's saga as an exercise in trying to change the world without bothering to understand it…The result is a credible and damning indictment of American intelligence policy."
"Narrator Stefan Rudnicki's attention to the many quotes enhances the text…His comf
Legacy of Ashes is based on more than fifty thousand 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 how the CIA's failures have profoundly jeopardized our national security. AUTHOR'S NOTE
PART ONE In the Beginning, We Knew Nothing The CIA Under Truman, 1945 to 1953 1. INTELLIGENCE MUST BE GLOBAL AND TOTALITARIAN
2. THE LOGIC OF FORCE
3. FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE
4. THE MOST SECRET THING
5. A RICH BLIND MAN
6. THEY WERE SUICIDE MISSIONS
7. A VAST FIELD OF ILLUSION
PART TWO A Strange Kind of Genius The CIA Under Eisenhower, 1953 to 19618. WE HAVE NO PLAN
9. CIA'S GREATEST SINGLE TRIUMPH
10. BOMB REPEAT BOMB
11. AND THEN WE'LL HAVE A STORM
12. WE RAN IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY
13. WISHFUL BLINDNESS
14. HAM-HANDED OPERATIONS OF ALL KINDS
15. A VERY STRANGE WAR
16. HE WAS LYING DOWN AND HE WAS LYING UP
PART THREE Lost Causes The CIA Under Kennedy and Johnson, 1961 to 1968 17. NOBODY KNEW WHAT TO DO
18. WE HAD ALSO FOOLED OURSELVES
19. WE'D BE DELIGHTED TO TRADE THOSE MISSILES
20. HEY, BOSS, WE DID A GOOD JOB, DIDN'T WE?
21. I THOUGHT IT WAS A CONSPIRACY
22. AN OMINOUS DRIFT
23. MORE COURAGE THAN WISDOM
24. THE BEGINNING OF A LONG SLIDE DOWNWARDS
25. WE KNEW THEN THAT WE COULD NOT WIN THE WAR
26. A POLITICAL H-BOMB
27. TRACK DOWN THE FOREIGN COMMUNISTS
PART FOUR Get Rid of the Clowns The CIA Under Nixon and Ford, 1968 to 1977 28. WHAT THE HELL DO THOSE CLOWNS DO OUT THERE IN LANGLEY?
29. USG WANTS A MILITARY SOLUTION
30. WE ARE GOING TO CATCH A LOT OF HELL
31. TO CHANGE THE CONCEPT OF A SECRET SERVICE
32. A CLASSIC FASCIST IDEAL
33. THE CIA WOULD BE DESTROYED
34. SAIGON SIGNING OFF
35. INEFFECTIVE AND SCARED
PART FIVE Victory Without Joy The CIA Under Carter, Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, 1977 to 1993 36. HE SOUGHT TO OVERTHROW THEIR SYSTEM
37. WE WERE JUST PLAIN ASLEEP
38. A FREELANCE BUCCANEER
39. IN A DANGEROUS WAY
40. HE WAS RUNNING A GREAT RISK
41. A CON MAN'S CON MAN
42. TO THINK THE UNTHINKABLE
43. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WHEN THE WALL COMES DOWN?
PART SIX The Reckoning The CIA Under Clinton and George W. Bush, 1993 to 2007 44. WE HAD NO FACTS
45. WHY IN THE WORLD DIDN'T WE KNOW?
46. WE'RE IN TROUBLE
47. THE THREAT COULD NOT BE MORE REAL
48. THE DARK SIDE
49. A GRAVE MISTAKE
50. THE BURIAL CEREMONY
AFTERWORD
"For an important book like this one, it's important for an audiobook narrator to have a certain gravitas, and Rudnicki has plenty…Rudnicki is one of the best narrators in the business and he's in top form here-Legacy of Ashes is one of the best audiobooks of the year."
"Deeply researched…Impressively studied…Provides new insights and details."
"The best…ever written on a case of espionage."
"The epigrammatic style, hard edge and caustic bite of a first-rate detective novel."
"Tough, fair-minded…Exceptional in the annals of spy literature for not citing a single anonymous source."
"[An] absorbing study…Weiner musters extensive archival research and interviews with top-ranking insiders…to present the agency's saga as an exercise in trying to change the world without bothering to understand it…The result is a credible and damning indictment of American intelligence policy."
"Narrator Stefan Rudnicki's attention to the many quotes enhances the text…His comf