Book Review - Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda
Category Book Review Robert Wallace H. Keith Melton Henry Robert Schlesinger
It's hard not to be fascinated with the James Bond spy persona, what with all the cool gadgets and such. But what is the reality behind spies and their techniques? Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda by Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton, and Henry Robert Schlesinger offers up a comprehensive, detailed guide to the real-life story of the tools that make up a spy's arsenal of weapons.
Contents:
Section 1 - At The Beginning: My Hair Stood on End; We Must Be Ruthless
Section 2 - Playing Catch-up: The Penkovsky Era; Beyond Penkovsky; Bring in the Engineers; Building Better Gadgets
Section 3 - In The Passing Lane: Moving Through the Gap; The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword (and Shield); Fire in the Attic; A Dissident at Heart; An Operation Called CKTAW
Section 4 - Let The Walls Have Ears: Cold Beer, Cheap Hotels, and a Voltmeter; Progress in a New Era; The Age of Bond Arrives; Genius Is Where You Find It
Section 5 - Prison, Bullet, Passport, Bomb: Conspicuous Fortitude, Exemplary Courage in a Cuban Jail; War by Any Other Name; Con Men, Fabricators, and Forgers; Tracking Terrorist Snakes
Section 6 - Fundamentals of Tradecraft: Assessment; Cover and Disguise; Concealments; Clandestine Surveillance; Covert Communications; 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
The authors focus less on the "human" side of spying and more on the "technology" side of the spy game in this book. Going back to World War 2, you learn about the formation of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and how they started to create their own tools to aid in the uncovering of enemy secrets as well as creating havoc behind the lines. These efforts created things like the Limpet mine (designed to be used on ships and attached below the waterline), the Mole (an explosive that would be attached to trains and would trigger when there was an absence of light, like tunnels), and the Anerometer (an explosive to be used on planes that would detonate when a plane reached 1500 feet in altitude). The key in their designs was that they were not "one-off" devices never to be repeated, but instead would be manufactured on a small scale, in secret, and be available when the situation called for it. Through the years, the technology becomes more focused on surveillance and capturing of communication. I was amazed at the wide array of bugging devices and homing beacons they were able to deploy successfully to track and monitor individuals who were intent on doing harm to U.S. interests. Although not one of the now cutting-edge devices, I was fascinated over what they were able to accomplish with miniature cameras in the 1960's that could be deployed to agents and used to copy secret documents. Tucked away in devices like pens and cigarette lighters, a spy could photograph a document in seconds with a high likelihood of success.
There are also interesting stories on how certain terrorist crimes were eventually solved. The most well-known example was the bombing of Pam-Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. With debris scattered over 800 miles, it was not an easy task to assemble enough clues to determine how the bombing happened, much less who was responsible for it. Incredibly, the case ended up turning on the discovery of a small piece of circuit board and a fragment of a t-shirt. The technology gurus were able to match the circuit board to a type and design made by a certain company, as well as find the location of where the t-shirt had been sold. These clues tied the crime back to Libya and two specific terrorists, who eventually were tried in an international court. But it was only due to the extensive amount of intel uncovered on unrelated cases that allowed everything to be reassembled for this particular incident.
Spycraft is not a book you'll sit down and finish in an evening. It's long (550 pages), very detailed, and it's not written in a novel-like style. But it is fascinating reading, and the authors did an excellent job in telling the story of the hidden people in the CIA who work with no recognition but make all the difference in the world.
It's hard not to be fascinated with the James Bond spy persona, what with all the cool gadgets and such. But what is the reality behind spies and their techniques? Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda by Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton, and Henry Robert Schlesinger offers up a comprehensive, detailed guide to the real-life story of the tools that make up a spy's arsenal of weapons.
Contents:
Section 1 - At The Beginning: My Hair Stood on End; We Must Be Ruthless
Section 2 - Playing Catch-up: The Penkovsky Era; Beyond Penkovsky; Bring in the Engineers; Building Better Gadgets
Section 3 - In The Passing Lane: Moving Through the Gap; The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword (and Shield); Fire in the Attic; A Dissident at Heart; An Operation Called CKTAW
Section 4 - Let The Walls Have Ears: Cold Beer, Cheap Hotels, and a Voltmeter; Progress in a New Era; The Age of Bond Arrives; Genius Is Where You Find It
Section 5 - Prison, Bullet, Passport, Bomb: Conspicuous Fortitude, Exemplary Courage in a Cuban Jail; War by Any Other Name; Con Men, Fabricators, and Forgers; Tracking Terrorist Snakes
Section 6 - Fundamentals of Tradecraft: Assessment; Cover and Disguise; Concealments; Clandestine Surveillance; Covert Communications; 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
The authors focus less on the "human" side of spying and more on the "technology" side of the spy game in this book. Going back to World War 2, you learn about the formation of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and how they started to create their own tools to aid in the uncovering of enemy secrets as well as creating havoc behind the lines. These efforts created things like the Limpet mine (designed to be used on ships and attached below the waterline), the Mole (an explosive that would be attached to trains and would trigger when there was an absence of light, like tunnels), and the Anerometer (an explosive to be used on planes that would detonate when a plane reached 1500 feet in altitude). The key in their designs was that they were not "one-off" devices never to be repeated, but instead would be manufactured on a small scale, in secret, and be available when the situation called for it. Through the years, the technology becomes more focused on surveillance and capturing of communication. I was amazed at the wide array of bugging devices and homing beacons they were able to deploy successfully to track and monitor individuals who were intent on doing harm to U.S. interests. Although not one of the now cutting-edge devices, I was fascinated over what they were able to accomplish with miniature cameras in the 1960's that could be deployed to agents and used to copy secret documents. Tucked away in devices like pens and cigarette lighters, a spy could photograph a document in seconds with a high likelihood of success.
There are also interesting stories on how certain terrorist crimes were eventually solved. The most well-known example was the bombing of Pam-Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. With debris scattered over 800 miles, it was not an easy task to assemble enough clues to determine how the bombing happened, much less who was responsible for it. Incredibly, the case ended up turning on the discovery of a small piece of circuit board and a fragment of a t-shirt. The technology gurus were able to match the circuit board to a type and design made by a certain company, as well as find the location of where the t-shirt had been sold. These clues tied the crime back to Libya and two specific terrorists, who eventually were tried in an international court. But it was only due to the extensive amount of intel uncovered on unrelated cases that allowed everything to be reassembled for this particular incident.
Spycraft is not a book you'll sit down and finish in an evening. It's long (550 pages), very detailed, and it's not written in a novel-like style. But it is fascinating reading, and the authors did an excellent job in telling the story of the hidden people in the CIA who work with no recognition but make all the difference in the world.
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