{"product_id":"9781399816847","title":"The CIA : An Imperial History by Hugh Wilford","description":"A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2024'Gripping history that also informs the present' Sunday Times'Lively and original' The Spectator'A spectacular achievement' Dominic Sandbrook'Fast-paced, absorbing, insightful' Simon Hall'Simply superb' Kathryn Olmsted   The definitive history of how the CIA became the foremost defender of America's   covert global empire   As World War II   ended, the United States stood as the dominant power on the world stage. In   1947, to support its new global status, it created the CIA to analyse foreign   intelligence. But within a few years, the Agency was engaged in other   operations: bolstering pro-American governments, overthrowing nationalist   leaders, and surveilling anti-imperial dissenters at home.      The Cold War was an   obvious reason for this transformation - but not the only one. In The   CIA, celebrated British   intelligence historian Hugh Wilford draws on   decades of research to show the Agency as part of a larger picture: the   history of Western empire. While young CIA officers imagined themselves as   British imperial agents like T. E. Lawrence, successive US presidents used   the covert powers of the Agency to hide overseas interventions from   postcolonial foreigners and anti-imperial Americans alike. Even the CIA's   post-9\/11 global hunt for terrorists was haunted by the ghosts of empires   past.   Comprehensive, original, and gripping, The CIA is the   story of the birth of a new imperial order in the shadows. It offers the most   complete account yet of how America adopted unaccountable power and secrecy   abroad and at home.\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44581246861490,"sku":"9781399816847","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399816847.jpg?v=1720875621","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9781399816847","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}