Event box
Open Book, Open Mind; Tim Weiner, "The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century"
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tim Weiner will talk to Jonathan Alter ("American Reckoning"), bestselling author, historian and columnist, about Weiner's New York Times bestseller, "The Mission: The CIA in the 21st Century," his epic successor to the classic "Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA," which won the 2007 National Book Award. "No one has opened up the CIA to us like Weiner has, and 'The Mission' deserves to win Weiner a second Pulitzer." —The Guardian
Doors open at 6 p.m. The discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A and book sales and signing with Watchung Booksellers.
Open Book / Open Mind is sponsored by Montclair Public Library Foundation, Watchung Booksellers, Anonymous, David and Mary Lee Jones, and our individual Underwriters. We are also grateful for the generous support of our in-kind sponsors, First Congregational Church of Montclair, The George, and Amanti Vino. To support Open Book / Open Mind and other library programs, click here to donate.
- Date:
- Thursday, January 15, 2026
- Time:
- 6:30pm - 8:00pm
- Location:
- Montclair Main - Auditorium, Montclair Main - Conference Room
- BCCLS Library:
- Montclair Public Library
- Audience:
- Adults
- Categories:
- Open Book / Open Mind
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Weiner has won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for his reporting and writing on American national security. As a correspondent for The New York Times, he covered the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon in Washington, and reported on war and terrorism from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Sudan, and many other nations over the course of 15 years. His other non-fiction books include the classic "Valley of Ashes: A History of the CIA," "One Man Against the World: The Tragedy of Richard Nixon" and "Enemies."
ABOUT THE BOOK
New York Times bestseller. A New Yorker Best Book of 2025. A New York Times Editors' Choice. "A masterpiece of reporting based on-the-record interviews with six former CIA directors and scores of spies, station chiefs, and top operations officers: The Mission is a gripping and revelatory history of the modern CIA, reaching from 9/11 through its covert operations in Afghanistan and Iraq to today’s secret battles with Russia and China, concluding with the Agency's own fight for survival under the current president of the United States"—HarperCollins
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER
Jonathan Alter is a columnist, a historian, and Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker. He is the author of three New York Times bestsellers about American presidents and has a Substack newsletter called Old Goats. He lives in Montclair and is a member of the Open Book / Open Mind advisory committee.
Event Organizer
- reference@montclairlibrary.org
- 50 S. Fullerton Ave
Montclair, NJ 07402 - 973-744-0500
- https://montclairlibrary.org