دانلود کتاب Legacy of Ashes 2008

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner is a sweeping, deeply critical history of America’s Central Intelligence Agency—from its founding after World War II to the early years of the War on Terror. Based on over 50,000 declassified documents and hundreds of interviews, including with ten CIA directors, Weiner argues that the agency repeatedly failed at its core mission of understanding global threats.

Instead, it focused on covert operations that often ended in disaster, exposed incompetence, poor leadership, and a cycle of crisis mismanagement that eroded U.S. national security. Tim Weiner paints a bleak record of systemic failure and missed opportunities in intelligence gathering and policy advice.

Tim Weiner further explores how the CIA’s culture prioritized action over analysis, sidelined accurate intelligence in favor of politically convenient assessments, and perpetuated a pattern of dysfunction across multiple administrations. Some experts criticize his work for bias and lack of nuance, noting that successes and some contexts are downplayed—but even the CIA has acknowledged that Weiner exposed unsettling truths. Ultimately, Tim Weiner presents a compelling portrait of an intelligence agency burdened by illusions of control, leadership turnover, and unacknowledged mistakes¹.