All-powerful, brilliant, decisive, ruthlessly effective ... this is the image of the CIA as portrayed in countless films and novels. It is wrong.
This shocking book, based on thousands of declassified documents and interviews with agents at all levels, shows the reality behind the glamorous myth: a blundering, chaotic and dangerously incompetent organization, so ineffective it was nicknamed 'Can't Identify Anything' by Nato forces. In a story of botched coups, missed targets, lost operatives and fatal errors, Tim Weiner shows how the CIA now poses a threat not only to the security of the US, but the world.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241956236
Number of pages: 832
Weight: 579 g
Dimensions: 198 x 130 x 37 mm
This extraordinary story reads like tragedy and thriller. Impeccably sourced, utterly absorbing, dazzling and very, very dark - Time Out
This racy history reveals the CIA as a secret service to make Smiley weep and Bond howl in horror - Daily Telegraph
Combines thrilling storytelling with terrifying revelations - Simon Sebag Montefiore, New Statesman, Books of the Year
Weiner's riveting history of the CIA contains dozens of jaw-dropping incidents ... astonishing - Evening Standard, Books of the Year
Timely, immensely readable, and highly critical - Mark Bowden, author of 'Black Hawk Down'
Marvellous ... that every quote is also on the record is a testament to his skill - Steve Coll, author of 'Ghost Wars'
Winner of the National Book Award - Prizes and awards
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