In this the first book ever written about the CIA's Office of Technical Service, former director Robert Wallace (a real-life Q, straight out of the James Bond films) and internationally renowned intelligence historian H. Keith Melton offer an unprecedented look at the CIA's most secretive operations and the devices that made them possible. Against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions including the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the current War on Terror-the authors show how the CIA carries out its missions employing amazingly inventive tools. Illustrated with images never before seen by the public-and featuring everything from micro cameras to wired kitties to exploding pancakes-Spycraft is both a fantastic encyclopedia of gadgetry and a revealing primer on the fundamentals of high-tech espionage.

Official message from the CIA -- I. AT THE BEGINNING. My hair stood on end -- We must be ruthless -- II. PLAYING CATCH-UP. The Penkovsky era -- Beyond Penkovsky -- Bring in the engineers -- Building better gadgets -- III. IN THE PASSING LANE. Moving thru the gap -- The pen is mightier than the sword (and shield) -- Fire in the Arctic -- A dissident at heart -- An operation called CKTAW -- IV. LET THE WALLS HAVE EARS. Cold beer, cheap hotels, and a voltmeter -- Progress in a new era -- The age of Bond arrives -- Genius is where you find it -- V. PRISON, BULLET, PASSPORT, BOMB. Conspicuous fortitude, exemplary courage in a Cuban jail -- War by any other name -- Con men, fabricators, and forgers -- Tracking terrorist snakes -- VI. FUNDAMENTALS OF TRADECRAFT. Assessment -- Cover and disguise -- Concealments -- Clandestine surveillance -- Covert communications -- Spies and the age of information -- Epilogue: An uncommon service -- Appendices: U.C. clandestine services and OTS organizational genealogy -- Selected chronology of OTS -- Directors of OTS -- CIA trailblazers from OTS -- Pseudonyms of CIA officers used -- Instructions to decipher the official message from the CIA.