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Not what I expected

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Well, I did not know much about the CIA and this book did not provide me any thing beyond what I already knew. I knew CIA was dysfunctional and inefficient. I knew CIA was full of liberal driven morons who take themselves seriously and probably don't care much about the interests of the country they serve (Check the recent Iran's NIE report for example). I also knew CIA's ability and power was exaggerated in the media and hollywood. What got me interested in this book was Tim Weiner's interview with Hugh Hewitt on KRLA radio show. I was mistaken and now am disappointed at this book. First, this book started very boring and when the author got to Iran, he lost me. For several reasons including the factual errors with respect to the 1953 incident. His interpretation of the Mossadegh related events is of a liberal/leftist (Stephen Kinzer like) analogy and agenda. He lost me right there and I abandoned the book for a while. The 1953 coup is a liberal made myth and this author is promoting it right there. I didn't want to read a book that is biased and not factual. But I got back to it solely because I didnt want to leave a book unfinished. It got better once it was past the Cuban and Vietnam era 50s and 60s but still it is a disappointment. Once, Tim Weiner claims that Iranian coup of 1953 was the single biggest success of CIA yet he keeps mentioning the countries where CIA had successful endeavors too like Italy, Haiti, Dominican rep... . The author is basically confused on every thing. He portrays liberal democrat presidents as more competent and portrays Republican presidents as criminals or liars. I am going to sell my book for a buck, really. For CIA's official reviews of this book you should check CIA's website. It's devastating and that review also helped me get some info right.

Outstanding Service and Response

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My recent order for a book was processed quickly and efficiently delivered in short order. This was important since I was under a deadline for reading the book in time for our monthly book discussion group meeting.

CIA as evil once again

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Well having an interest history and how we held the soviets back I bought the book and audio cd of Legacy OF Ashes.
I though listened and read carefully and after taking in the entire book I am left with a bad taste.....the book really gives very little positive's to the fellows who really had little or no idea how to be spys etc. other than the fact that they were brave enough to give it go!

The book really attacks them all as being fools who couldn't shoot straight and so on and frankly that is not correct.

My suggestion would be to read some of the other books out there on the CIA and really see how hard it was to foil the soviets as they were brutal and vilolent and we as Americans really didnt know how to deal with what we know now and they new then as EVIL!!!!

The agents for Russia stopped at nothing to steal secrets from the US as well as convience hundreds of Americans that the soviet union was a pleasant carefree workers paradise , when in fact it was Stalin's sandbox that he ruled with an iron fist! The terror of 1938 read about it as it will open your eyes to the mesery of the soviet union ; punishing those who disagreed with him or he imagined disagreed etc. The truth as we know it is Socialism is Evil in all its forms ...the powerfull use it to control the many !Think about it horror was living under communist rule in the 1920's to the 1980's the fench in Berlin wasnt put up to keep everybody out but to keep everyone in!

Thank God we had brave men such as Frank Wisner,Tracy Barnes,Richard Bissel and Desmond FitzGerald all of them served and worked hard toward the goal of protecting all us from the soviets.Richard Bissel who in the nineteen fifties developed the U2 spyplane with Kelly Johnson ( Lockheed )absolutely saved many lives with our ability to capture pictures inside russia as the soviets lied about everything from number of warheads to the number of tanks ,Bissel and Johnson then went on to create the SR-71 Blackbird which still holds the speed record for a jet propelled aircraft; both were designed and built prior to computers being used in design and creation of aircraft etc. ...these folks are hero's they did it quickly and correctly and under budget with a slide rule!I also wish to mention the work of Dr.Edwin Land who developed the camera used in the U2 and the Blackbird with out his genius the planes could never have taken any pictures at heights in excess of 60,000 feet up!

Each man listed did there job to the best of thier abilities.... they as well as thier families suffered , wondering if the men ever would return from the lastest mission. The years spent in the company of thieves and murderer's took its toll on everyone not just the CIA men themselves.

Did everything that the CIA do become a success? no it did not but I will tell you ...read all the books about the history of the CIA and then judge for yourself...I did and I am better off for it. I wish to say thank you to all of them for keeping myself and my family safe during there lifetime.

James

Excellent discussion of the CIA

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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.

Questionable history and scholarship -- but very entertaining

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Please do not let this be the only book you read about the CIA before making personal judgments. Weiner's book is deliberately provocative, biased, and hostile in the extreme, and, in spite of his extensive research, is not a scholarly presentation. It is much closer to being a form of tabloid journalism than a thorough history. Because of that, it manages to soften the desultory work of good history and be both entertaining and informative. In this day-and-age, it is all about "spin," and this book spins like an angry top. If you insulate yourself with that knowledge, however, you will be able to glean insights that official histories will not give.