The Mission

The epic successor to Tim Weiner¿s National Book Award-winning classic,?Legacy of Ashes: a gripping and revelatory history of the CIA in the 21st?century, reaching from 9/11 through the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to today¿s battles with Russia and China ¿ and with the President of the United States.At the turn of the century, the Central Intelligence Agency was in crisis. The end of the Cold War had robbed the agency of its mission. More than thirty overseas stations and bases had been shuttered, and scores that remained had been severely cut back. Many countries where surveillance was once deemed crucial went uncovered. Essential intelligence wasn¿t being collected. At the dawn of the information age, the CIA¿s officers and analysts worked with outmoded technology, struggling to distinguish the clear signals of significant facts from the cacophony of background noise.Then came September 11th, 2001. After the attacks, the CIA transformed itself into a lethal paramilitary force, runni