Spycraft

Description

The secret history of the CIA's spy gadgets and the operations in which they were used. Secret instructons written in invisible ink.Cigarettes that fire bullets.Covert communications slipped inside dead rats.Subminature cameras hidden in ballpoint pens.If these sound like the stuff of James Bond's gadget-master Q's trade, think again. They are all real-life devices created by the CIA's Office of Technical Services. Now, in the first book ever written about this ultrasecretive department, the former director of the OTS gives us an unprecedented look at the devices and operations from the history of the CIA - including many 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 which has never before been revealed. Against the backdrop of some of the most critical international events of recent years - including the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the war on terror - the authors show the real techinical and human story of how the CIA carried out its most secret missions.

Robert Wallace is the former director of the CIA's Office of Technical Services. H Keith Melton is an internationally recognized authority of spy technology, and the author of seven books including Ultimate Spy. Henry Schlesinger is a contributing editor at Popular Science magazine.

Great stuff. The stories are pacy, with first-hand accounts from CIA insiders. The anecdotes put you right next to the engineers as they silently drill through a wall to plant a bug, hoping the Soviet official on the other side won't spot anything. A fantastic read. * BBC Focus Magazine * An intriguing history of ingenious men and women, who could invent a talking tree, an inflatable airplane and an exploding rat. * Sunday Times *