Spycraft

The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs from Communism to Al-Qaeda

By: Robert Wallace, Henry Robert Schelsinger

Narrated by: David Drummond

Length: 19 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

• Secret instructions written in invisible ink
• Covert communications slipped inside dead rats
• Subminiature cameras hidden in ballpoint pens

If these sound like the stuff of science fiction or imaginary tools of James Bond's gadget-master Q's trade, think again. They are real-life devices created by the CIA's Office of Technical Service. Now, in the first book ever written about this ultrasecretive department, the former director of OTS teams up with an internationally renowned intelligence historian to give listeners an unprecedented look at the devices and operations deemed "inappropriate for public disclosure" by the CIA just two years ago.

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 history - including the cold war, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the war on terror - the authors show the real technical and human story of how the CIA carries out its missions.

©2008 Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton, and Henry R. Schlesinger (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Forget James Bond's famous 'Q' and Hollywood, this is the most remarkable and revealing book ever published about the history and technology of spying." (Peter Earnest, executive director, International Spy Museum)

Pretty interesting history of the CIA.

What made the experience of listening to Spycraft the most enjoyable?

Learning about the history of the CIA's Spytechs.

What aspect of David Drummond’s performance would you have changed?

I found his narration to be okay. It wasn't stellar, but it wasn't annoying either.

Any additional comments?

The breaks between chapters were not long enough. A chapter would end and the following one would immediately begin. I found this fairly jarring.

Techno-weenie heaven

This book is Techno-Weenie Heaven. I personally have to deal with developing and evaluating new tech, and adapting stuff to tasks for which they were never intended. So, for me, this book is like crack. Loved it.

Interesting history of espionage technology

It always helps when the reader of the audio book (David Drummond in this case) is engaging, and this was definitely an example of that. It actually felt like he was the one who wrote it, it was so smooth.

The content is fascinating; exploring spy technology from the old OSS up through now. It was really cool to hear about how audio surveillance has changed over the years. Today we forgot just how much transistors and integrated circuits have truly shrunk things.

Another great aspect is the personal touch, the book is not just about the technology but the people in the OTS ("techs") who deploy (frequently at high risk) the surveillance or even defuse bombs.

Highly recommended!

Love this book!

As an audio tech this book was the best. A great history of all the hard working technical folk protecting America behind the scenes. Bright and creative, working behind "the cool spies" the are the folks who made them cool. This book kept me laughing with the crazy ideas that worked!

Too Many TLA's

This book is quite dry and unexciting. To be fair, it never pretends to be anything else. It does provide quite intriguing facts on what CIA Techs developed and provides some intriguing stories of exploits that CIA spies had to carry out during the cold war. One main frustrating part is the endless TLA's or three letter acronyms which may work better if you were reading rather than listening. I gave up on most except the main one for the branch that makes the spycraft (can't remember it already). The book also is a combinations of at least 2 but maybe 3 authors and thus is bit disjointed with definitions of some terms not coming until the end. The material at the core is actually quite fascinating - as an example they were using texting devices back in the 70's. One author is too caught up in trying to also provide a chronological history to the dedicated staff in his department, and causes it to read a bit like a retirement speech at times. It is a suitable memorial to the great work the staff did for the country's security, but does not translate well to a book.

Good information

This book had great information about the tech. The real-world examples made it a thriller at times. Technical people will appreciate this book. The political analysis and back-drop help paint a precise picture of the time periods.

Interesting

It was not as exciting as I had hoped. Especially for the size. It did have some funny stories and I am not mad I listened but this will not be a re-read.

Spy Gizmos 101..... 5 STARS~

Plot: outlook at the secrets and gizmos that spies use.

This is a very good book. We learn a close up look at the gadgets of the spies and how they were used and improved over time. How spy technology has changed since the advent of the computer and internet. This is a very good look at the way the CIA and other agencies spy on each other. Added to the details in the stories of spies are detected and how they evade being caught. I would have loved this if it were a bit shorter. 5 star over all.

One of the best espionage related books availble!

If you are interested in the CIA or espionage, you must purchase this book. I learned more from this book than from all the other books I have read on the CIA combined. EXCELLENT BOOK!

Very good

I was given a MP3 copy of some of the book, liked it so much I bought the Audible book. This book has stayed on my iPod even after listening to it.

The history and stories in this book are fantastic, it gives you a new view into this part of our history.