Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA is a 2007 book by Tim Weiner. Legacy of Ashes is a detailed history of the Central Intelligence Agency from its creation after World War II, through the Cold War years and the War on Terror, to its near-collapse after 9/11. The book is based on 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. The Wall Street Journal called the book "truly extraordinary...the best book ever written on a case of espionage."

Legacy of Ashes won the 2007 National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Paths of Possession is an American melodic death metal band featuring George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher in a more melodic environment, with song structures that have much more in common with early Bay Area Thrash than the Tampa death metal scene.

Formed in 1999 by Randy Butman (Silhaven), Jay Fossen, Erin "Goat" Fuller (Cryptic Winds) and Richard Brunelle (ex-Morbid Angel guitarist), as Swollen, Paths of Possession is a solid mix of traditional heavy metal with influences of Swedish melodic death metal. Paths of Possession independently released their first CD-r demo, Legacy in Ashes, in 2000.

Following the release of Legacy of Ashes, Erin left the band to join Hell on Earth and was replaced by Brian Ridley (Cancerslug) in 2002. Soon after, Paths of Possession was approached by Keith Suchland better known as "Splattergod" about releasing their next CD. It was mutually decided that they and Dark Faith would release a split EP, with each band contributing four songs.

While working on the split, Butman was asked to join Withered Earth in late 2002, officially doing so in January 2003, resulting in the band going on hiatus and the split being put on hold. Following the release of Withered Earths' Of Which They Bleed, the band broke up and Butman returned to Tampa and set about resurrecting the dormant Paths of Possession.

Tim Weiner (*1957) is a New York Times reporter, author of three books and co-author of a fourth, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. He is a graduate of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University and has worked for the Times since 1993, as a foreign correspondent in Mexico, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sudan and as a national security correspondent in Washington, DC.

Weiner won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting as an investigative reporter at The Philadelphia Inquirer, for his articles on the black budget spending at the Pentagon and the CIA. His book Blank Check: The Pentagon's Black Budget is based on that newspaper series.

He won the National Book Award in Nonfiction for his 2007 book Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.

He is featured along with other foreign affairs experts in interviews in Denis Delestrac's 2010 "Pax Americana and the Weaponization of Space". Enemies: A History of the FBI, Tim Weiner's latest book, traces the history of the FBI's secret intelligence operations, from the bureau's creation in the early 20th century through its ongoing fight in the current war on terrorism. He explains how Hoover's increasing concerns about communist threats against the United States led to the FBI's secret intelligence operations against anyone deemed "subversive."