Spycraft : the secret history of the CIA's spytechs from communism to Al-Qaeda /

Wallace, Robert.

Spycraft : the secret history of the CIA's spytechs from communism to Al-Qaeda / Robert Wallace and H. Keith Melton with Henry R. Schlesinger. - New York : Plume, c2009. - xxv, 548 p., [8] leaves of plates : ill. ; 21 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [525]-532) and index.

Official message from the CIA -- I. AT THE BEGINNING. My hair stood on end -- We must be ruthless -- II. PLAYING CATCH-UP. The Penkovsky era -- Beyond Penkovsky -- Bring in the engineers -- Building better gadgets -- III. IN THE PASSING LANE. Moving thru the gap -- The pen is mightier than the sword (and shield) -- Fire in the Arctic -- A dissident at heart -- An operation called CKTAW -- IV. 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 -- V. 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 -- VI. FUNDAMENTALS OF TRADECRAFT. Assessment -- Cover and disguise -- Concealments -- Clandestine surveillance -- Covert communications -- Spies and the age of information -- Epilogue: An uncommon service -- Appendices: U.C. clandestine services and OTS organizational genealogy -- Selected chronology of OTS -- Directors of OTS -- CIA trailblazers from OTS -- Pseudonyms of CIA officers used -- Instructions to decipher the official message from the CIA.

9780452295476 (pbk.) 0452295475 (pbk.)


United States. Central Intelligence Agency. Directorate of Science and Technology --History.


Intelligence service--United States.

JK468.I6 / W187s 2009