Editorial Review

A sentimental favorite, Read more

Reviews (142)

Thanks to the missing .75 cents...
We get an incredibly engaging page-turner of an astronomer/system manager tracking down a foreign hacker. Cliff Stoll genuinely struggles and questions his own actions not knowing whether he is doggedly tracing some hapless student or a nefarious spy. In the end he overcomes his Berkeley counterculture distrust of all those three letter gov't agencies and develops a respect for their work if not their inability to coordinate or communicate interdepartmentally. He becomes a security expert they all seek but laments the lack of openness and the attack on trust that is required in the academic world in order to facilitate networking and the exchange of ideas. A really good story and there is a pretty good recipe for chocolate cookies on page 155.

Nice reading with good technical coverage
"The Cuckoo's Egg" is a good book on computer hacking and espionage . It covers well all technical aspects involved in the case, stuff like UNIX, Tymnet and the very begining of system cracking.
Berkley Unix?
I really liked this book.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Crime    2. Conspiracy & Scandal Investigations    3. Espionage    4. Intelligence Agencies    5. Literary Criticism    6. Political Freedom & Security - Intelligence    7. Political Science    8. Politics/International Relations    9. Security - General    10. True Crime / Espionage   

Reviews (6)

What do you do when your employers are homicidal maniacs?
Vasili Mitrokhin was exempted from military service during the Second World War so that he could become an archivist for the KGB.With time he became more and more disenchanted with Communism, by the time of the brutal suppression of the Prague Spring, he came to believe that Communism was irredeemably flawed.Overt resistance was futile, so he set about copying and taking home documents describing the mischief the KGB in its various incarnations was wreaking around the world.
Time to Re Write the History Books
With a paltry budget of $3bil a year, the CIA's counter intelligence operation had to fight a KGB/GRU monstrosity 20 times its size, one wonders how the West won the Cold war. For far to long, any time the KGB was implicated in a situation it was dismissed by the press as some kind of "right wing hyperventilation". Many of the cold war martyrs canonized by the left, i.e. Allende, turned out to be on the KGB's payroll. Simply put, this book has the potential to change the history of the Cold War as we know it.

Perkele
A good account of facts which were relatively unknown to common people. Corruption and exploitation are two main problems encountered by the Third World, perhaps initiated by different superpowers during those days. Superpowers do not exist any more but unfortunately those countries of the Third World are still struggling both politically and economically. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Espionage    2. Espionage, Soviet    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. General    5. History    6. History - Military / War    7. History: World    8. Intelligence Agencies    9. Intelligence service    10. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    11. Political Philosophy    12. Soviet Union    13. Espionage & secret services    14. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)   

Reviews (21)

Valuable insight into the climax of the Cold War
In a brief period of time between 1989 and 1991, the world changed dramatically. Several significant events transpired, each literally changing the way the world worked overnight. In The Main Enemy, Milt Bearden and James Risen provide a detailed and fascinating view into the struggle between the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Soviet security service, Komitet Gosudarstvenoj Bezopasnosti (KGB).
Great Read
For those of us who were a bit younger at the end of the Cold War and were more interested in girls and cars than politics, this is a great read about the spy games that went on between the CIA & KGB, both directly (eg. in Washington or Moscow) or indirectly (Afghanistan) and about the political changes that happened at the end of the 80's and early 90's. I have read a lot of Tom Clancy's novels, and this one has them beat for intrigue and insight. Anyone who enjoys books told from a truly inside perspective will love this one.

I LOVE SPY BOOKS
This is another terrific spy book that is worth reading. Was completeley drawn in by this one !!!Another Cold War era book I would recommend is the one by Benjamin Weiser titled " A Secret Life" about a Polish Colonel ( Ryszard Kuklinski ) on the Polish General Staff who passed on some 40,000Warsaw Pact and Soviet documents to the CIA from 1972 to 1981. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Espionage    2. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History - Military / War    6. History: American    7. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    8. Political Freedom & Security - Intelligence    9. United States - General    10. Espionage & secret services    11. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    12. History / United States / General    13. USA   

Reviews (3)

How information is gathered, processed, and used in the formation of national policy
If you seek a single source reference to the history of modern espionage, it should be THE CRAFT OF INTELLIGENCE: AMERICA'S LEGENDARY SPY MASTER ON THE FUNDAMENTALS OF INTELLIGENCE GATHERING FOR A FREE WORLD. Details on how intelligence is collected and processed, and how it contributes to the formation of national policy, makes for a thorough and fine review of the craft and policies of military intelligence efforts, surveying how information is gathered, processed, and used in the formation of national policy. While others could've presented the facts, it's his insider position peppered with personal anecdotes from his intelligence career - he was a high-ranking officer of the CIA's predecessor and served eight years when the CIA was created - which makes CRAFT OF INTELLIGENCE unique.
Core reading requirement for students of intelligence
As I began researching the modern intelligence community, several books (e.g. "The Night Watch" by David Atlee Philips) pointed back to "The Craft of Intelligence" as a fundamental starting point.Because this book deals with the basic intelligence methods and objectives, it maintains its relevance well into the present.In some sections Dulles also addresses the ethical implications of deceptive or clandestine intelligence collection, providing valuable thought or discussion material for individuals scrutinizing this unique, and arguably disdainful, function of government.Dulles' writing style is thoughtful, refined, yet straightforward, revealing some of those traits which earned him the moniker "The Gentleman Spy".

One of two required readings on intelligence for anyone
This is the other required reading.This gem sits on my desk with my dictionary of difficult words and my synonym dictionary. We still do not have an equal to this book.Since Dulles testified to Congress that 80% ofthe raw material for finished intelligence came from public sourcesincluding diplomatic reporting, this book provides an interesting benchmarkfor understanding the rather pathological impact of technical collection onthe larger process of all-source collection and analysis. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Espionage    2. General    3. History    4. History: World    5. Military    6. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    7. Political Freedom & Security - Intelligence    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Espionage & secret services    10. History / General    11. USA   

Reviews (2)

Thorough novel
As the other reviewer says, this goes into deep detail, but sometimes that can be a good thing.

Long but not bad as a source book
This not a book you want to read at one sitting!!! I found it more useful reading the essence of each chapter and not bothering with the details, unless I was searching for a specific topic or instance. Also due the date of the publication and the many new books coming out on this topic rechecking your facts with other sources always recomended.My favaorate part of the book is the first fewchapters which describes the birth and infancy of one of the most famous intellegence organizations in the world. Overall, it is good readif you don't get wrapped up with too much of the details. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Espionage    2. Great Britain    3. Great Britain.    4. History    5. History - General History    6. Intelligence service    7. MI6    8. Politics/International Relations   

Reviews (5)

Great Images and descriptions but does need to be re-proofed
This book is filled with excellent photos with great descriptions.The best historical book on spy hardware that I have ever seen. It does need to be re-proof read though... I noticed at least 3 spots where the text just ends in mid sentence which seemed really odd for a book of this caliber.It's just a minor irritation but otherwise it's a 5 star book.
Very good
100% recomend to learn about spy history

Great photographs, interesting reading
I was given this book as a gift and think the photographs in it are absolutely great!The text that accompanies all the photos is interesting, but I've noticed more than just a few spots in the book where the captions to the photos stops in mid-sentence.I still love the book and if those captions were complete; it would rate 5 stars. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Espionage    2. History    3. History: World    4. Intelligence service    5. Military    6. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    7. Military - Other    8. Military - Strategy    9. True Crime / Espionage    10. History / Military / Other   

Reviews (3)

The contagious paranoia of counterintelligence...
The term, "wilderness of mirrors," is still used today in counterintelligence circles to denote the feelings of paranoia that sometimes develop in the byzantine business of spyhunting, when one is no longer able to distinguish between what is real and what is illusion. When conjuring up images of this precise phenomenon, no name rings louder than that of James Jesus Angleton, who himself was enveloped and ultimately destroyed by his obsession with uncovering a "mole" within the CIA.
Help! The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum!!!
This book, which relates the ongoing war between the CIA and the KGB, focuses on the activities of William K. Harvey, a gun-totin' ex-FBI agent (who does not seem to have entirely evolved in a social sense), and James Jesus Angleton, a Yale graduate who lived first in Italy and then in England, where he learned the fine arts of counter-espionage at the knees, as it were, of Kim Philby, and was in charge of counter-espionage at the CIA. The revelation that the latter was a KGB penetration agentin British Intelligence seems to have engendered extreme paranoia in the former, who was ever after on the lookout for moles in the Agency (and was even suspected by some of his colleagues of being one himself).
Anti-Angleton
This is one of the anti-Angleton books.You you want to understand Angelton's approach to counter-intelligence, I would recommend Edward Jay Epstein's "Deception" instead. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Espionage    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. History: American    5. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    6. United States - 20th Century    7. True Crime / Espionage   

Reviews (22)

very good but some part hard to believe
Billy Waugh is a great soldier. The only section of this book I would question is his description of the mission in Khartoum to hunt Carlos the Jackal. It's hard to believe a Caucasian man like Billy was able to jog unmolested, repeatedly in the open in such a small city like Khartoum. It's a place where only journalists, arms dealers, terrorists, and government employees mingle. Billy never described what his cover was. The Sudanese government knows EVERYONE who arrives and lives in Khartoum.
Informative and very readable
This book is indeed a chest-thumper and a page-turner!I recommend it as a relatively quick one to read, and I prefer this one to Richard Marchenko's similar nonfiction action stories.I think most readers will find Hunting the Jackal written more realistically -- and more modestly, too.Since the author's total public service spans most of his 70+ year life, we get a wider range of stories than with many other I-did-it soldier books.
Great Read! A real page-turner
What a great book. The CIA and Special Forces tales Billy Waugh tells are incredible. It's like being a fly on the wall, and I found myself laughing out loud several times to Billy's gruff old-school Texas way of explaining the situations he endured. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1929-    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Central Intelligence Agency    7. Espionage    8. Military    9. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    10. Terrorism    11. United States    12. Waugh, Billy,    13. Biography & Autobiography / Military   

Reviews (14)

A fine historical work
Weiser's detailed and measured tale of Kuklinski's historical contribution to Cold War espionage is to be read and enjoyed. His story is taut and thrilling and reminds one of a good John Le Carre novel. Beyond the issue of whether Kuklinski is a hero or traitor to the Polish nation [which is fairly raised and detailed by the author], Weiser never loses control of the subject matter,and,of the abundant documentation he uncovered in his unique access to CIA records. He instills Kuklinski with humanity and sense of Polish nationalism. A fine work to be read and enjoyed.

A Founding Father of the Post-Soviet, Polish State!
"Sometimes it's not enough to do what is right, sometimes one must do what is necessary." Ryszard Kuklinski knew what was right, did what was necessary...and paid a terrible price.
Ryszard Kuklinski my Hero
Must be read to be believed i havent given this book 5 stars for nothing it is one of my most cherised books i how indebted i am to the man who saved our dear country poland may his soul rest in peace it brings tears to eyes just thinking after all he sacrificed and fought for to have what he loved most then taken away in his later years
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Espionage    5. Military    6. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    7. Modern - 20th Century    8. Political    9. Political Freedom & Security - Intelligence    10. Post World War II History    11. U.S. Government - Intelligence Agencies    12. Biography: historical    13. Espionage & secret services    14. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    15. Poland    16. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000   

Subjects:  1. Espionage    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: American    5. Maritime History    6. Morro Castle (Steamship)    7. Murder - General    8. Ships & Shipbuilding - History    9. Ships & Shipbuilding - Shipwrecks    10. Transportation    11. United States - 20th Century    12. United States - General    13. History / United States / 20th Century   

Reviews (1)

A Century of Disaster
Studying French history in the Twentieth Century is like slowing down on the highway to check out a terrible car wreck.The wreck may be tragic but its compelling and you have to slow down and look.Poor France, to have gone from the pretensions of World Empire to being the junior partner in the Franco German partnership.What a glorious, slow motion train wreck!A tragedy given malicious pleasure by Gaullist pretensions.Read more

Subjects:  1. Espionage    2. True Crime / Espionage   

Reviews (2)

The Great Berlin Tunnel Mystery
As one who, as a young soldier trained in the Army Language School at the Presidio of Monterey, actually monitored the Soviet telephone lines at the Berlin site between early October 1955 and March 1956, I can vouch for the accuracy of David Stafford's book. Since I was only a lowly US Army corporal, albeit assigned to alert my superiors of any information that could not wait to be processed in either London or Washington, I knew nothing of the background of the project or of Blake's having compromised it. I was the only enlisted man monitoring the telephone lines, because of the shortage of qualified agents.All the other guys were either Naval officers, CIA or SIS agents.I do remember that, not long after I arrived at the site, the first snow fall revealed a long melted strip taking off from the warehouse-tunnel building and pointing into the East Zone.There was lots of excitement.London was called and engineers flew in that day to install equipment to take the heat out of the tunnel.Fortunately, that day was also foggy, so that we relaxed after the snow continued to fall and cover the arrow-like bare spot marking the tunnel. Little did we know that the tunnel was no secret to the Soviets from the beginning.It was one of my sons, who, many years later made me aware that the project had been compromized from the beginning.Upon learning that, I began to wonder if any of us on that front line listening post might have been reverse programmed by the Soviet Secret Police and their subsequently discovered psy-war technologies.Incidentally, I got to know those secret police guys pretty well.They tried to be cagey by never finishing a conversation on a particular line.No matter.Since we were monitoring all the lines and recording them, we got everything.It was not hard to patch all those fractured KGB conversation fragments together into a sensible communication.They spoke differently than the Red Army guys, whether they were NCO or top military brass, such as Marshal Gretchko or General Markov.Nor did they ever identify themselves as did the Army guys.We knew who they were anyway.It was no doubt the most exciting and intense experience of my young life.
Spies Beneath Berlin - review
Review by Christopher J. D'Ambola of Spies Beneath Berlin by David Stafford (New York: The Overlook Press, 2002).
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Subjects:  1. Berlin    2. Central Intelligence Agency    3. Cold War    4. Electronic intelligence    5. Espionage    6. Europe - Germany    7. Germany    8. Great Britain    9. History    10. History: World    11. MI6    12. Military - Intelligence/Espionage    13. Operation Stopwatch/Gold, Berl    14. Operation Stopwatch/Gold, Berlin, Germany, 1955-1956    15. True Crime / Espionage    16. United States    17. History / Africa    18. Military History   

Subjects:  1. 1892-1984    2. Cinema/Film: Book    3. Espionage    4. Film & Video - General    5. General    6. Performing Arts    7. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    8. Powell, William,    9. Biography: film, television & music    10. Films, cinema    11. Individual actors & performers   

Reviews (10)

Excellent summer reading
This is a wonderful read - interesting, relevant and timely, and better than fiction. Millman has struck an excellent balance, weaving facts into a captivating narrative that is a perfect book for relaxed reading.Books like THE DETONATORS should be part of curricula in high school and college history courses because it brings history alive. Impressive that a sports guy can turn such an excellent page-turner.

Terrorism in 1916 New Jersey
The Detonators, by Chad Millman
Those who do not learn from history...
How no one thought to write this book until now is extraordinary. Millman found a chapter in U.S. history that eerily foreshadows the events of 9/11 and beyond, and he had the writerly discipline to avoid hitting readers over the head with it. Instead, he tells a dramtaic story of espionage and legal intrigue, in prose that's fast-paced and easily accessible without being simple or condescending. Perfect summer reading. Fall, Winter and Spring, too. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Black Tom Island    2. Espionage    3. Germany    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. History: American    7. Military - World War I    8. New Jersey    9. Secret service    10. U.S. History - Early 20th Century    11. United States    12. United States - 20th Century    13. United States - 20th Century/WWI    14. United States - State & Local - Middle Atlantic    15. World War I    16. World War, 1914-1918    17. American history: First World War    18. First World War, 1914-1918    19. History / General    20. Terrorism, freedom fighters, armed struggle    21. USA   

Reviews (10)

It is a "must", even for real life intelligence agents!
This is a "must have" book for anybody, who is substantively an intelligence or intelligence history buff or even a real life intelligence agent. There is no any other book in English on the topic of US intelligence history on this planet ever, which offers this much insightful arrangement of presenting a profound pedagogical and didactic value, even to the "pros". It is an impressive "eye opener" to the curious novice or beginner, "expertise material" to the intermediate. I don't know if it helps the "advanced", since, I have never been there myself.

Eye Opening Reading For Secret Intelligence Buffs
For the Presidents Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush is exciting reading for fans of secret intelligence or presidential history. The book answers the all important question "what did the president know and when did he know it" and more importantly to secret intelligence buffs "how did he know it." Professor Christopher Andrew provides a through analysis of the intelligence provided to the presidents of the United States during their tenure and how the presidents used that intelligence. He further explains how the President felt about intelligence and how well the Presidents understood what intelligence could and could not do for him. In addition Andrew examines the state of the intelligence services, how the intelligence services changed during each president's term and the president's impact on the intelligence community during their administration.

Subjects:  1. Espionage    2. Government - National    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: American    6. Intelligence service    7. Presidents    8. Secret service    9. United States    10. United States - General    11. History / General   

Reviews (1)

A close-up look into just how medical examiners work
Postmortem: How Medical Examiners Explain Suspicious Deaths offers what few competitors can: a close-up look into just how medical examiners work. The author spent three years shadowing examiners to understand how they probe questionable deaths, and Postmortem covers not just the physical but the legal, social and moral issues faced by the industry. From issues of objectivity in the face of subjective evidence to influences in headline cases, Postmortem is a title not just for the general public, but especially for the college- level medical collection.
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Subjects:  1. Autopsy    2. Criminal investigation    3. Diagnosis    4. Espionage    5. Forensic Medicine    6. Forensic sciences    7. General    8. Murder - General    9. Reference    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Sociology - General    13. True Crime / Espionage    14. Forensic science    15. Medicolegal issues    16. Pathology    17. True Crime / General   

Reviews (1)

Interesting Document
This is an unclassified version of a study originally done by OSS psychologists on the selection of personnel suitable for clandestine operations. This means those in which the individual is inserted into enemy territory and then left alone to live under deep cover, always living in a state of stress and tension. Read more

Subjects:  1. Espionage    2. History    3. History: World    4. Nonfiction - True Crime / Espionage    5. Reference   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Army    3. Biography    4. Counter Intelligence Corps    5. Espionage    6. History    7. History - Military / War    8. Intelligence officers    9. Military - World War II    10. Secret service    11. United States    12. World War, 1939-1945    13. Edwards, Duval A   

Reviews (17)

Where are they now?
Where are they now?
Well organized and written
This book has a wealth of information.With so much, the author managed to organize everything in a sensible manner.The information builds on previous chapters.It can be hard to remember, but the author does manage to add some reminders.

First hand Interviews With Spies from WWII
This book is not "War and Peace", nor is it a comprehensive book on spies, but rather it is a collection of stories using first hand testimony of the participants in the OSS in WWII. In that context the book is different from most of what must now be a 1000 books on WWII. The strength of this book is the excellent writing and the series of interesting characters and their stories, all involving ordinary men that do heroic things. Thankfully their stories have been recorded by the author since many of these men are now many in the 80's and their first hand recollections will soon be lost. In any case the book is better that one might expect.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Espionage    4. Europe, Western    5. History - General History    6. History - U.S.    7. Military    8. Military intelligence    9. Office of Strategic Services    10. Secret service    11. United States    12. United States - 20th Century/WWII    13. World War, 1939-1945    14. History / Military / General    15. Military life & institutions    16. Secret service, espionage, spying    17. World history: Second World War   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (158)

Lacking a Knowlegeable Perspective
Yes, this book is a detailed account of law enforcement and of how Pablo Escobar w