Book Review: "Spycraft"

"Spycraft: Inside the CIA's Top Secret Spy Lab" by Robert Wallace and H.Keith Melton provides a historical look at the evolution of spy technology throughout the end of Wold War II, the Cold War, and up into the age of terrorism. The book follows groups such as the OSS and OTS as they develop spy tech to support clandestine operations. From clandestine remote listening devices, to innovations on small cameras, lethal technologies, and embedded devices, this book is a treasure trove of real spy tech history. "Spycraft" is long winded in giving the detailed spy tech history; I listened to it on Audible for over 20hrs, at ~600 pages. Overall, I give the book 5 out of 10 stars, for being an important history lesson in CIA tradecraft, although very long and dry at times. I recommend the book to those interested in trade craft, intelligence operations, and history. As with all of my book reviews, the following is the sections and chapters of the book:

Section 1: At the Beginning
Chapter 1: My Hair Stood on End
Chapter 2: We Must Be Ruthless
Section 2: Playing Catch-Up
Chapter 3: The Penkovsky Era
Chapter 4: Beyond Penkovsky
Chapter 5: Bring in the Engineers
Chapter 6: Building Better Gadgets
Section 3: In The Passing Lane
Chapter 7: Moving Through the Gap
Chapter 8: The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword (and Shield)
Chapter 9: Fire in the Arctic
Chapter 10: A Dissident at Heart
Chapter 11: An Operation Called CKTAW
Section 4: Let The Walls Have Ears
Chapter 12: Cold Beer, Cheap Hotels, and a Voltmeter
Chapter 13: Progress in a New Era
Chapter 14: The Age of Bond Arrives
Chapter 15: Genius Is Where You Find It
Section 5: Prison, Bullet, Passport, Bomb
Chapter 16: Conspicuous Fortitude, Exemplary Courage in Cuban Jail
Chapter 17: War by Any Other Name
Chapter 18: Con Men, Fabricators, and Forgers
Chapter 19: Tracking Terrorist Snakes
Section 6: Fundamentals of Tradecraft
Chapter 20: Assessment
Chapter 21: Cover and Disguise
Chapter 22: Concealments
Chapter 23: Clandestine Surveillance
Chapter 24: Covert Communications
Chapter 25: Spies and the Age of Information
Epilogue: An Uncommon Service
Espionage and the Internet
Appendix A: U.S. Clandestine Services and OTS Organizational Genealogy
Appendix B: Selected Chronology of OTS
Appendix C: Directors of OTS
Appendix D: CIA Trailblazers from OTS
Appendix E: Pseudonyms of CIA Officers Used
Appendix F: Instructions to Decipher the Official Message from the CIA on page xxv

I liked listening to this book not because of the high-tech spy equipment used, but to see how they pulled off high-tech spying with such limited technology. The intelligence games played between the CIA and KGB during The Cold War were probably my favorite example of this. The technology started out with so many limitations that operatives had to extensively plan around the device's clandestine installation and usage. The book highlights how small advances in technology can greatly enabled actors, giving intelligence agencies in control of the information huge advantages in collection or counter-intelligence over those without the newest tech. Further, operational security was as much of a concern regarding the tech as were the capabilities. I also really enjoyed the part about KGB propaganda around The World during and after The Cold War. The litany of forged documents that came out of Russia to influence foreign campaigns or political perception was blatant and really highlighted some ubiquitous Russian influence methodologies. Another interesting development was the counter-intelligence technique of cataloging and studying the developments of foreign spy tech, such that you could attribute new spy tech when you found it by looking at what's historically similar, yet clandestine devices. Ultimately, a great bit of history regarding covert intelligence tools.