This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.

1. 1. The Mission

   The CIA in the 21st Century

   

   The Mission traces the CIA’s evolution from post–Cold War decline through the shock of 9/11 and the agency’s shift toward paramilitary operations, detention, and drone strikes. It describes the consequences of that shift—operational losses, cyber and counterintelligence setbacks—and the subsequent effort to rebuild traditional espionage capabilities to confront rivals such as Russia, China, and Iran while operating under intense political pressure.

   The 12895th Greatest Book of All Time

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2. 2. Legacy of Ashes

   The History of the CIA

   

   This book is a comprehensive history of the Central Intelligence Agency from its inception in 1947 to 2007. It provides an in-depth look at the agency's triumphs and failures, revealing a pattern of poor intelligence analysis, covert operations gone awry, and bureaucratic mismanagement. The author utilizes more than 50,000 documents, primarily from the archives of the CIA itself, and hundreds of interviews with CIA veterans, including ten Directors of Central Intelligence. It's a critical examination of the CIA, questioning its effectiveness and its role in both the Cold War and the War on Terror.

   The 17117th Greatest Book of All Time

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