Customer Reviews

Inside CIA's Private World: Declassified Articles from the Agency`s Internal Journal, 1955-1992

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One of my more enjoyable moments while working at the Defense Intelligence Agency was reading the latest issue of the CIA's "Studies in Intelligence". Not only are the stories enjoyable and obviously intruiging, they are historic and add an additional "eye" into the inner-workings of CIA Ops, Tech and Intel Analysis.

You know, it wasn't that long ago that the mere title, "Studies in Intelligence" was classified Secret... This should give you a little indication of the kind of information that's inside. A great enjoyable read by the campfire.

Brad, a respected scholar in his own right, was given unique access to all past publications of the CIA's internal journal, Studies in Intelligence, and has produced an absolutely lovely collection of the best thoughts inside CIA from 1955-1992, organized into sections for imagery intelligence collection, overt human intelligence collection, clandestine human intelligence collection, human intelligence and its consumers, the analysis function, analysis and its consumers, and counterespionage. I regard this book as an essential supplementary reading for teaching both students and practitioners.

This Yale University Press publication is an insiders scorecard on how to collect information. Techniques for clandestine human intelligence gathering are reviewed in detail. The text even explores how internal CIA squabbling hurts U.S. intelligence gathering. The declassified articles from the agency's internal journal from 1955-1992 is mostly insider shop talk. My favorite chapter is VII, Counterespionage. Section eight of chapter three, psychology of treason is an ice-cold analysis.

This is simply a collection of declassified articles from the CIA's in house quarterly journal "Studies In Intelligence". Many more articles have been declaasifed since the book came out and all are on the Center for the Study of Intelligence page at the CIA site. The author adds very little to the articles and you are better off just going and reading the ones that interest you yourself. They are organized by subject (i.e. analysis, Covert Action) at the Agency's website. The unclassifed "Studies In Intelligence" is also at the same place. I heard the author interviewed by G. Gordon Liddy when the book came out and as usual the "G man" was a fount of mis-information on intelligence matters.

A fascinating piece of history. It's not that we read important secrets, or even that the topics of these journal articles are current and relevant, but from a historical perspective, the insights and conclusions are a fun window into the CIA's world over the years.