Full Description
An unprecedented history of the CIA's secret and amazing gadgetry behind the art of espionage
In this look at the CIA's most secretive operations and the devices that made them possible, Spycraft tells gripping life-and-death stories about a group of spytechs—much of it never previously revealed and with images never before seen by the public.
The CIA's Office of Technical Service is the ultrasecret department that grappled with challenges such as:
What does it take to build a quiet helicopter?
How does one embed a listening device in a cat?
What is an invisible photo used for?
These amazingly inventive devices were created and employed against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions—including the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and continuing terrorist threats. Written by Robert Wallace, the former director of the Office of Technical Service, and internationally renowned intelligence historian Keith Melton, Spycraft is both a fantastic encyclopedia of gadgetry and a revealing primer on the fundamentals of high-tech espionage.
"The first comprehensive look at the technical achievements of American espionage from the 1940s to the present."—Wired
"Reveals more concrete information about CIA tradecraft than any book."—The Washington Times
"This is a story I thought could never be told."—JAMES M. OLSON, former chief of CIA counterintelligence
Contents
SpycraftForeword
Preface
Official Message from the CIA
Section I. At The Beggining
1. My Hair Stood on End
2. We Must Be Ruthless
Section II. Playing Catch-Up
3. The Penkovsky Era
4. Beyond Penkovsky
5. Bring in the Engineers
6. Building Better Gadgets
Section III. In The Passing Lane
7. Moving Through the Gap
8. The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword (and Shield)
9. Fire in the Arctic
10. A Dissident at Heart
11. An Operation Called CKTAW
Section IV. Let The Walls Have Ears
12. Cold Beer, Cheap Hotels, and a Voltmeter
13. Progress in a New Era
14. The Age of Bond Arrives
15. Genius Is Where You Find It
Section V. Prison, Bullet, Passport, Bomb
16. Conspicuous Fortitude, Exemplary Courage in a Cuban Jail
17. War by Any Other Name
18. Con Men, Fabricators, and Forgers
19. Tracking Terrorist Snakes
Section VI. Fundamentals Of Tradecraft
20. Assessment
21. Cover and Disguise
22. Concealments
23. Clandestine Surveillance
24. Covert Communications
25. Spies and the Age of Information
Epilogue: An Uncommon Service
Appendix A: U.S. Clandestine Services and OTS Organizational Genealogy
Appendix B: Selected Chronology of OTS
Appendix C: Directors of OTS
Appendix D: CIA Trailblazers from OTS
Appendix E: Pseudonyms of CIA Officers Used
Appendix F: Instructions to Decipher the Official Message from the CIA on page xxv
Glossary
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
