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Spycraft  By  cover art

Spycraft

By: Robert Wallace, Henry Robert Schelsinger
Narrated by: David Drummond
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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)

What listeners say about Spycraft

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How they did it

What did you love best about Spycraft?

This book tells you the high and low tech ways that the CIA spyed on its targets, usually the Russians. It is well written. It does a good job of taking you there.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Very Informative and Entertaining

It was interesting to learn about the technology that helps keep our country safe from our enemies and the people who help make it happen. As and electronics engineer, I regret I never even thought of working for CIA or NSA. (I'm too old for that now.) I was really impressed how CIA taps into small entrepreneurs and inventors to get cutting edge technology. Most of the technology discussed in this book is obsolete now, so one can only image what they're doing now.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Boring as hell for a technical person.

What disappointed you about Spycraft?

I was hoping to get the story of developing and using spy gadgets, instead I got a self-serving story of a CIA historian who praised the work the department he worked for at some point. Bunch of abbreviations, dates and names I don't care about. Politics inside CIA. Booooooring. I only made it through first 2 hours and then gave up.

Would you ever listen to anything by Robert Wallace and Henry Robert Schelsinger again?

no

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Slow to start, finishes well

It took a while for me to get into this one, but after a couple hours in I found myself unable to shut it off.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

An interesing, if wandering history

The book is a definite must read for lovers of spy-tech and spy history. It is very detailed in its stories of individual instances used to illustrate techniques and technologies. Unfortunately, it meanders just a bit in its tellings. In using individual people as vehicles for technology, it seems to cover large spans of time (years or decades) talking about a specific peice of spycraft, then jumps back in time to tell yet another story of another person, in the same time periods, to talk about another peice of technology. Finally, the use of the title word (Spycraft) for every peice of technology, technique, and procedure, while potentially acurate, gets some what distracting as you listen along and hear everything described as a "new piece of spycraft" or an "innovative development in spycraft."

All in all, the reading is magnificent, the stories are fun and the technology is innovative. A great genre piece.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

more Cold War then Al-Queda - but great!

so it starts off slow and ends sorta slow, but the middle is great [{}]

near the end there is some repeating of stuff that was in the beginning of the book but it is really to give more info about the device or operation [{}]

this is a great book that covers some great times in history, although you dont know of what is told as it was secret at the time and was not made public so its not something that was in newspapers or on tv, you can still understand and appreciate what is going on [{}]

the beginning of the book is sorta slow but it picks up pretty fast and keeps going until the last 2 hours or so ad its then a recap or just a closing - its not that its a bad ending its just that you dont get much of the Al-Queda stuff its mostly Cold War through the book as that was a huge part and took up so much of the CIA's time - there is then some Vietnam stuff and brief Afghanistan section then back to a recap of items used and some terms and its over [{}]

I liked the book as it was a departure from normal "Spy Novels" as it was mostly real stuff and how technological problems were overcome as well as a few failures [{}]

I say get this book because its something that anyone should be able to enjoy

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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  • Overall
    out of 5 stars

Informative, Interesting and Well Written

A great peace of history.

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