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(Hardcover)
An unprecedented history of the CIA's most secretive operations and the gadgets that made them possible.
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)
More Reviews and RecommendationsRobert Wallace is the former director of the CIA's Office of Technical Service. The recipient of the Intelligence Medal of Merit, he is the founder of the Artemus Consulting Group, a private national security firm, and a contributor to the CIA's Center for the Study of Intelligence. H. Keith Melton is recognized internationally as an authority on spy technology. He is a historical consultant for the CIA, a professor at the Center for Counterintelligence and Security Studies, and the author of several books, including Ultimate Spy. Henry R. Schlesinger is a contributing editor at Popular Science magazine, covering intelligence technologies, counterterrorism, and law enforcement.
From two men who know better than anyone how espionage really works, an unprecedented historyheavily illustrated with neverbefore- seen imagesof the CIA's most secretive operations and the gadgets that made them possible.
It is a world where the intrigue of reality exceeds that of fiction. What is an invisible photo used for? What does it take to build a quiet helicopter? How does one embed a listening device in a cat? If these sound like challenges for Q, James Bond's fictional gadget-master, think again. They're all real-life devices created by the CIA's Office of Technical Servicean ultra-secretive department that combines the marvels of state-of-the-art technology with the time-proven traditions of classic espionage. And now, in the first book ever written about this office, the former director of OTS teams up with an internationally renowned intelligence historian to take readers into the laboratory of espionage.
Spycraft tells amazing life and death stories about this little-known group, much of it never before revealed. Against the backdrop of some of America's most critical periods in recent historyincluding the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the war on terrorthe authors show the real technical and human story of how the CIA carries out its missions.
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)
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)
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 beautiful 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)
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)
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 b&w illus. throughout. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Their tales will leave you shaken, if not stirred.
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 Bad 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, obscure drugs, tiny weapons, secret compartments, and forged documents-depicted here in 100-plus fascinating diagrams and photographs. Readers can find more photos of such artifacts on the CIA's virtual museum tour (
Richard Gid Powers
"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)
James M. Olson
"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 beautiful 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)
Pete Earley
"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)
David Kahn
"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)
Gary C. Schroen
"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)
Official Message from the CIA
Sect. I At the Beginning
1 My Hair Stood on End 3
2 We Must Be Ruthless 16
Sect. II Playing Catch-Up
3 The Penkovsky Era 25
4 Beyond Penkovksy 36
5 Bring in the Engineers 53
6 Building Better Gadgets 62
Sect. III In the Passing Lane
7 Moving Through the Gap 81
8 The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword (and Shield) 87
9 Fire in the Arctic 103
10 A Dissident at Heart 110
11 An Operation Called CKTAW 138
Sect. IV Let the Walls Have Ears
12 Cold Beer, Cheap Hotels, and a Voltmeter 159
13 Progress in a New Era 179
14 The Age of Bond Arrives 195
15 Genius Is Where You Find It 232
Sect. V Prison, Bullet, Passport, Bomb
16 Conspicuous Fortitude, Exemplary Courage in a Cuban Jail 249
17 War by Any Other Name 277
18 Con Men, Fabricators, and Forgers 307
19 Tracking Terrorist Snakes 325
Sect. VI Fundamentals of Tradecraft
20 Assessment 363
21 Cover and Disguise 381
22 Concealments 388
23 Clandestine Surveillance 401
24 Covert Communications 420
25 Spies and the Age of Information 443
Epilogue: An Uncommon Service 461
Appendix A U.S. Clandestine Services and OTS Organizational Genealogy 465
Appendix B Selected Chronology of OTS 466
Appendix C Directors of OTS 468
Appendix D CIA Trailblazers from OTS 469
Appendix E Pseudonyms of CIA Officers Used 471
Appendix F Instructions to Decipher the Official Message from the CIA on page xxv 472
Glossary 473
Notes 481
Selected Bibliography 525
Acknowledgments 533
Index 537
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