9781620970898_

**"The Ghosts of Langley offers a detail-rich, often relentless litany of CIA scandals and mini-scandals. . . [and a] prayer that the CIA learn from and publicly admit its mistakes, rather than perpetuate them in an atmosphere of denial and impunity."
—The Washington Post

From the writer Kai Bird calls a "wonderfully accessible historian," the first major history of the CIA in a decade, published to tie in with the seventieth anniversary of the agency's founding**

During his first visit to Langley, the CIA's Virginia headquarters, President Donald Trump told those gathered, "I am so behind you . . . there's nobody I respect more, " hinting that he was going to put more CIA operations officers into the field so the CIA could smite its enemies ever more forcefully. But while Trump was making these promises, behind the scenes the CIA was still reeling from blowback from the very tactics that Trump touted—including secret overseas prisons and torture—that it had resorted to a decade earlier during President George W. Bush's war on terror. Under the latest regime it seemed that the CIA was doomed to repeat its past failures rather than put its house in order.

The Ghosts of Langley is a provocative and panoramic new history of the Central Intelligence Agency that relates the agency's current predicament to its founding and earlier years, telling the story of the agency through the eyes of key figures in CIA history, including some of its most troubling covert actions around the world. It reveals how the agency, over seven decades, has resisted government accountability, going rogue in a series of highly questionable ventures that reach their apotheosis with the secret overseas prisons and torture programs of the war on terror.

Drawing on mountains of newly declassified documents, the celebrated historian of national intelligence John Prados throws fresh light on classic agency operations from Poland to Hungary, from Indonesia to Iran-Contra, and from the Bay of Pigs to Guantánamo Bay. The halls of Langley, Prados persuasively argues, echo with the footsteps of past spymasters, to the extent that it resembles a haunted house. Indeed, every day that the militarization of the CIA increases, the agency drifts further away from classic arts of espionage and intelligence analysis—and its original mission, while pushing dangerously beyond accountability.

The Ghosts of Langley will be essential reading for anyone who cares about the next phase of American history—and the CIA's evolution—as its past informs its future and a president of impulsive character prods the agency toward new scandals and failures.

(*_*)9781620970898_

Publishing into the 70th anniversary of the CIA and a new era under Donald Trump: John Prados is one of the worlds leading authorities on the CIA and his new, up-to-date history is the first to locate the Agencys current behavior and challenges in the face of authoritywhether it be the Senate or Donald Trumpback to its founding figures and early history.

First major book on the CIA in a decade: This is the first significant book on the CIA since Tim Weiners award-winning Legacy of Ashes.

Based on newly declassified documents: Prados is a senior fellow at George Washington Universitys National Security Archive. He and his colleagues are responsible for FOIAing many of the declassified documents that strongly inform this book.

A leading expert on the CIA: Prados is often quoted as an expert in the Washington Post, Politico, New York Times and other major publications as a major authority on CIA history.

Speaking: Prados is a prolific public speaker, who often speaks at conferences concerning the history of espionage and has testified to Congress.

Potential blurbs: Hoping to get blurbs from Tim Weiner, David Talbot, James Bamford, Jeremy Scahill, Thomas Powers, and Kai Bird.

...(*_*)9781620970898_

"The Ghosts of Langley offers a detail-rich, often relentless litany of CIA scandals and mini-scandals. . . [and a] prayer that the CIA learn from and publicly admit its mistakes, rather than perpetuate them in an atmosphere of denial and impunity."
The Washington Post

From the writer Kai Bird calls a "wonderfully accessible historian," the first major history of the CIA in a decade, published to tie in with the seventieth anniversary of the agencys founding

During his first visit to Langley, the CIAs Virginia headquarters, President Donald Trump told those gathered, "I am so behind you . . . theres nobody I respect more, " hinting that he was going to put more CIA operations officers into the field so the CIA could smite its enemies ever more forcefully. But while Trump was making these promises, behind the scenes the CIA was still reeling from blowback from the very tactics that Trump toutedincluding secret overseas prisons and torturethat it had resorted to a decade earlier during President George W. Bushs war on terror. Under the latest regime it seemed that the CIA was doomed to repeat its past failures rather than put its house in order.

The Ghosts of Langley is a provocative and panoramic new history of the Central Intelligence Agency that relates the agencys current predicament to its founding and earlier years, telling the story of the agency through the eyes of key figures in CIA history, including some of its most troubling covert actions around the world. It reveals how the agency, over seven decades, has resisted government accountability, going rogue in a series of highly questionable ventures that reach their apotheosis with the secret overseas prisons and torture programs of the war on terror.

Drawing on mountains of newly declassified documents, the celebrated historian of national intelligence John Prados throws fresh light on classic agency operations from Poland to Hungary, from Indonesia to Iran-Contra, and from the Bay of Pigs to Guantánamo Bay. The halls of Langley, Prados persuasively argues, echo with the footsteps of past spymasters, to the extent that it resembles a haunted house. Indeed, every day that the militarization of the CIA increases, the agency drifts further away from classic arts of espionage and intelligence analysisand its original mission, while pushing dangerously beyond accountability.

The Ghosts of Langley will be essential reading for anyone who cares about the next phase of American historyand the CIAs evolutionas its past informs its future and a president of impulsive character prods the agency toward new scandals and failures.

...

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