Legacy of Ashes
The History of the CIA
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Narrated by:
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Stefan Rudnicki
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By:
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Tim Weiner
About this listen
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.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Three and a half years ago, David Sanger’s book The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power described how a new American president came to office with the world on fire. Now, just as the 2012 presidential election battle begins, Sanger follows up with an eye-opening, news-packed account of how Obama has dealt with those challenges, relying on innovative weapons and reconfigured tools of American power to try to manage a series of new threats.
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Sobering reminder on what the presidency requires
- By Marilyn on 09-03-12
By: David E. Sanger
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The Killing of Osama Bin Laden
- By: Seymour M. Hersh
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2011, an elite group of US Navy SEALS stormed an enclosure in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad and killed Osama bin Laden, the man the United States had begun chasing before the devastating attacks of 9/11. The news did much to boost President Obama’s first term and played a major part in his reelection victory of the following year. But much of the story of that night, as presented to the world, was incomplete, or a lie. The evidence of what actually went on remains hidden.
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Ridiculous
- By Amazon Customer on 08-22-17
By: Seymour M. Hersh
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Rise and Kill First
- The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations
- By: Ronen Bergman
- Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
- Length: 25 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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The Talmud says: “If someone comes to kill you, rise up and kill him first.” This instinct to take every measure, even the most aggressive, to defend the Jewish people is hardwired into Israel’s DNA. From the very beginning of its statehood in 1948, protecting the nation from harm has been the responsibility of its intelligence community and armed services, and there is one weapon in their vast arsenal that they have relied upon to thwart the most serious threats: Targeted assassinations have been used countless times, on enemies large and small....
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Eye Opening
- By Ari Safari on 02-09-18
By: Ronen Bergman
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A World of Trouble
- The White House and the Middle East
- By: Patrick Tyler
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 27 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The Middle East is the beginning and the end of U.S. foreign policy: events there influence our alliances, make or break presidencies, govern the price of oil, and draw us into war. But it was not always so - and as Patrick Tyler shows in this thrilling chronicle of American misadventures in the region, the story of American presidents' dealings there is one of mixed motives, skulduggery, deceit, and outright foolishness, as well as of policymaking and diplomacy.
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Does't deliver
- By Matthew on 02-10-09
By: Patrick Tyler
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State of Denial
- Bush at War, Part III
- By: Bob Woodward
- Narrated by: Boyd Gaines
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Abridged
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Bob Woodward examines how the Bush administration avoided telling the truth about Iraq to the public, to the Congress, and often to themselves in State of Denial. Woodward's third book on President Bush is a sweeping narrative from the first days George W. Bush thought seriously about running for president, through the recruitment of his national security team, the war in Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the struggle for political survival in the second term.
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Concerning and hard to put down
- By Chris on 12-10-06
By: Bob Woodward
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Manhunt
- The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden - from 9-11 to Abbottabad
- By: Peter L. Bergen
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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From the author of the New York Times best-selling Holy War, Inc., this is the definitive account of the decade-long manhunt for the world’s most wanted man, Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda expert and CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen paints a multidimensional picture of the hunt for bin Laden over the past decade, including the operation that killed him.
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DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!
- By Betty on 05-04-12
By: Peter L. Bergen
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1983
- Reagan, Andropov, and a World on the Brink
- By: Taylor Downing
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A riveting, real-life thriller about 1983 - the year tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union nearly brought the world to the point of nuclear Armageddon. The year 1983 was an extremely dangerous one - more dangerous than 1962, the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the United States, President Reagan vastly increased defense spending, described the Soviet Union as an "evil empire," and launched the "Star Wars" Strategic Defense Initiative to shield the country from incoming missiles.
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Great story, poor narration choices.
- By John Gray on 02-11-19
By: Taylor Downing
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The One Percent Doctrine
- Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11
- By: Ron Suskind
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author Ron Suskind takes you deep inside America's real battles with violent, unrelenting terrorists, a game of kill-or-be-killed, from the Oval Office to the streets of Karachi.
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The Agenda is Clear
- By Penny on 09-28-11
By: Ron Suskind
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The War State
- The Cold War Origins Of The Military-Industrial Complex And The Power Elite, 1945-1963
- By: Michael Swanson
- Narrated by: Larry Wayne
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Today when you factor in the interest on the national debt from past wars and total defense expenditures the United States spends almost 40% of its federal budget on the military. It accounts for over 46% of total world arms spending. Before World War II it spent almost nothing on defense and hardly anyone paid any income taxes. You can't have big wars without big government. Such big expenditures are now threatening to harm the national economy.
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Surprisingly Good
- By ohmie on 04-22-14
By: Michael Swanson
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Knowledge about USA limited about Israel excellent
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Hard to please
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Overthrow
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"Regime change" did not begin with the administration of George W. Bush, but has been an integral part of U.S. foreign policy for more than one hundred years. Starting with the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893 and continuing through the Spanish-American War and the Cold War and into our own time, the United States has not hesitated to overthrow governments that stood in the way of its political and economic goals.
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Looking at the dark side
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What listeners say about Legacy of Ashes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Douglas
- 08-04-07
Frightening
This is a wonderfully written disturbing history of the CIA. I finished this book wondering if the CIA represents the inevitable malfunction of all government bureaucracies, or specific to an American spy agency. I fear the former, and am left with grave concern that intelligence can act intelligently.
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42 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Linda
- 02-23-08
Fascinating; starts slowly
Having read great reviews of this on Amazon, I was, at first, a bit disappointed because it started out rather boringly. About half-way through Part 1, it started to deliver on the promise.
I actually knew about the involvement of the CIA in all the things the author wrote about; however, I didn't know details. Plus, having it all laid out in one document made it all the more disturbing.
Don't misunderstand; I think we the USA (and every country) needs to have an intelligence agency. I'm not a "wacky liberal" (have never voted anything but Republican, in fact). I'm in no way opposed to intelligence gathering. A government would be negligent not to have such an agency. However, I am opposed to many/most/all covert operations. Firstly, because they are generally immoral and illegal. And second, because of the long term affects. I lived in Central America and know what CIA activities there have done to American prestige and credibility. What it's done in the Mideast has contributed greatly to(I don't say "caused") the problems we have there.
Finally, it is just plain frightening to know that - excuse me for saying it - but that such stupid people, have held so much unrestrained power.
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19 people found this helpful
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- Saint Sinner
- 06-28-13
Like being told Santa isn't real
What did you like best about Legacy of Ashes? What did you like least?
This book is hard to read for someone who doesn't know about some of the times and eras that the book uses as a backdrop. I really didn't get into the book until I got to the Kennedy era.
Any additional comments?
The title says it all. With all the movies, tv series, and even history books it hard to think of the CIA as something other than all powerful and all knowing. Tim Weiner does a great job explaning events in such a way that there's little question to the validity that we are living with a "Legacy of Ashes".
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Gare
- 07-06-09
Informative but not insightul
An excellent summary of recently released secret documents...but not much more.
gare.henderson@gmail.com
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- andrew w.
- 11-03-07
slow
It was hard to stay interested. The first half was especially boring.
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1 person found this helpful
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- ArcaneCode
- 04-30-15
Outstanding history of the CIA
Would you listen to Legacy of Ashes again? Why?
Absolutely. Gripping story that never gets boring.
What does Stefan Rudnicki bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
His voice just sucked me right into the story. He did a great job.
Any additional comments?
After listening to John C. Dvorak constantly talk about this book on the No Agenda Show, I broke down and got it, and boy am I glad I did. It is an excellent story of an organization misused by the powers that be for their own purposes.
It is one of the few books I just could not stop listening too, I had my earbuds in non stop for the 3 days it took me to consume it.
This ranks as one of my top 10 Audible favorites, and should be a must read for everyone.
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- nursekatie24
- 06-20-22
Stellar info
This was an eye opening book about the successes and failures of the CIA. Sadly, the failures far outweigh the successes because there are too many arrogant leaders in the US government, the CIA and the military. It’s also because the CIA has too many newbies (at the books publication date) and the private intelligence companies are recruiting away the best talent.
We need to do better and be better or America will go the way of all the other arrogant countries in history.
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-17-16
Very interesting
Information that is not know to the general public. Ineptitude to the fullest by people we are supposed to trust.
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- Travis
- 12-01-16
Fantastic Read
I've done a whole lot of reading on the IC from a number of authors, and this one has made its way to the top of my list. A fantastic read on the history of the intelligence service, covert action programs, and American foreign policy. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in these subjects.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-04-20
You’re Out if Your Element
A fascinating and richly detailed story of American espionage and intelligence. Makes one ponder an intelligence apparatus more befitting of America’s strengths.
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