Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda |
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Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda
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by Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton, and Henry R. Schlesinger
Sales Rank: 3090
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List Price: $29.95
$19.77
At Amazon
on 11-27-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 576 pages
Published by: Dutton Adult May 29, 2008
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0525949801
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0525949800
Book Dimensions:
9.3 x 6.2 x 2.1 inches
Weighs: 2 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
Today's CIA is regularly criticized for emphasizing technology at the expense of human intelligence. In this history of the agency's Office of Technical Services, Wallace, its former head, and academic specialist Melton (Ultimate Spy) refute the charge with exciting content and slam-bang style. The book's chief value is its perspective on the synergy of technology and tradecraft. From WWII through the Cold War and up to the present, the authors say, technical equipment—for clandestine audio surveillance, for example—has been an essential element of agent operations. In the post–Cold War information society, technology plays an even more significant role in fighting terrorism. Agents remain important, along with their traditional skills. Increasingly, however, they support clandestine technical operations, especially infiltrating and compromising computer networks. The authors persuasively argue that employing and defending against sophisticated digital technology is the primary challenge facing U.S. intelligence in the 21st century. Their position invites challenge, but it cannot be dismissed. 32 pages of photos, over 100 black and white illus. throughout. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Review
“Today’s CIA is regularly criticized for emphasizing technology at the expense of “human intelligence.” In this history of the agency’s Office of Technical Services, Wallace, its former head, and academic specialist Melton (Ultimate Spy) refute the charge with exciting content and slam-bang style. The book’s chief value is its perspective on the synergy of technology and tradecraft. From WWII through the Cold War and up to the present, the authors say, technical equipment—for clandestine audio surveillance, for example—has been an essential element of agent operations. In the post-Cold War “information society,” technology plays an even more significant role in fighting terrorism. Agents remain important, along with their traditional skills. Increasingly, however, they support clandestine technical operations, especially infiltrating and compromising computer networks. The authors persuasively argue that employing and defending against sophisticated digital technology is the primary challenge facing U.S. intelligence in the 21st century. Their position invites challenge, but it cannot be dismissed.”
--Publishers Weekly
“Modern espionage requires more than a fast car and a shaken martini; it demands suitable equipment with which to gather, store, and transmit information. Wallace, former director of the CIA's Office of Technical Services (OTS), and H. Keith Melton (CIA Special Weapons & Equipment: Spy Devices of the Cold War), together with Henry Robert Schlesinger (coauthor, Brooklyn Bounce: The True- Life Adventures of a Good Cop in a terrible Precinct), present this well-written account of the ingenious items and procedures developed by the OTS to support field agents. The details of operational activity are as engrossing as the descriptions of the equipment, military and otherwise—e.g., miniature cameras and radios, unusual drugs, tiny weapons, secret compartments, and forged documents—depicted here in 100- plus fascinating diagrams and photographs.”
--Library Journal
“Just amazing! Page after page of jaw-dropping revelations about incredible cases and amazing technology. There has never been anything like this book.”
—Richard Gid Powers, author of Secrecy and Power: The Life of J. Edgar Hoover and Broken: The Troubled Past and Uncertain Future of the FBI
“This book is absolutely the best I've ever read about the CIA's "spy-techs" and the critical role they have played… Painstakingly researched, yet written with a novelist's flair, SPYCRAFT rips back the veils, revealing unfamiliar cases and offering fresh insights into infamous ones. From chronicling the invention of exploding pancakes to wristwatch cameras and quiet helicopters, SPYCRAFT documents how ingenious "techies" turned the CIA's lab into "the greatest toy shop in the world" and proved that if they "could think it --(they) could do it."”
--Pete Earley, author of Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy After The End of The Cold War and Confessions of a Spy; The Real Story of Aldrich Ames
“A must read for anyone interested in the world of CIA clandestine operations. The authors open a door on a hidden area that even those of us who have served in the Agency rarely see. Incredible research and great writing make this a fun ride through the history of this until now overlooked secret world deep inside the CIA.”
—Gary C. Schroen, author of First In
“This is a story I thought could never be told. The CIA's super-secret gadgets and technical operations were the difference maker in the espionage wars. Bob Wallace and Keith Melton have done a brilliant job of taking us into this amazing and arcane world. Behind all of us who did the front line spying for the CIA stood some remarkable and unsung heroes, the scientists and engineers of OTS. It was a gorgeous partnership. Don't miss this book. Nothing like it has been written before.”
—James M. Olson, former chief of CIA counterintelligence and author of Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying
“Stuffed with stories about chemical taggants, forged documents, physical and psychological disguises, software beacons that reveal the location of a cell phone or a laptop…this extraordinary, detailed, accurate book tells more about what spies really do, the risks they run and their schemes to avoid them, than all the James Bond stories put together.”
–David Kahn, author of The Codebreakers
Reader Reviews
I have been reading books about spies and espionage for over forty years and this book is one of the best I have ever read. It is a great combination of true spy stories and never before told descriptions of some of the special technology used by spies. Reading this book is like having a peek into the laboratory of the real Q from the James Bond movies. The book was written by an author who obviously knows this business like few others. It will be enjoyed by those who like a good spy story as well as those who have a professional interest in espionage and in technology. A must read for anyone who wants to know how the spies really do their work.
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Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda
Available from Amazon
Price: $19.77
Updated on 11-27-2008.
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