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Jeffrey T. Richelson

The Wizards Of Langley: Inside The Cia's Directorate Of Science And Technology Paperback – December 5, 2002

by Jeffrey T. Richelson (Author)

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In this, the first full-length study of the Directorate of Science and Technology, Jeffrey T. Richelson walks us down the corridors of CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, and through the four decades of science, scientists, and managers that produced the CIA we have today. He tells a story of amazing technological innovation in service of intelligence gathering, of bitter bureaucratic infighting, and sometimes, as in the case of its "mind-control" adventure, of stunning moral failure. Based on original interviews and extensive archival research, The Wizards of Langley turns a piercing lamp on many of the agency's activities, many never before made public.

Print length

416 pages
Language

English
Publication date

December 5, 2002
Dimensions

6 x 1.05 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0813340594
ISBN-13

978-0813340593
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A thoroughly researched tale of political infighting, personal animosities, and interservice and interagency bickering. -- Proceedings

Jeffrey Richelson makes a good case for the old saying that truth is stranger than fiction. -- The Advocate

Richelson's book offers a rare glimpse into a vital aspect of U.S. intelligence. -- Washington Post Book World

There are hundreds of fascinating stories to entertain and enlighten the curious mind. -- North Charleston News

a solid, conservative perspective on the agency's history. -- Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Jeffrey T. Richelson received his PhD in political science from the University of Rochester in 1975 and has taught at The University of Texas at Austin and American University, Washington, DC. A senior fellow at the National Security Archive in Washington, DC, Richelson has authored numerous works on intelligence, spying, and weapons of mass destruction, including The Wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology, America's Space Sentinels: the History of DSP and SBIRS Satellite Systems, and Spying on the Bomb: American Nuclear Intelligence from Nazi Germany to Iran and North Korea.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; Reprint edition (December 5, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 416 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0813340594
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0813340593
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.28 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.05 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,131,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #830 in Scientific Research
- #1,090 in Espionage True Accounts
- #1,782 in Intelligence & Espionage History

Customer Reviews:
35 ratings

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3 star		9%
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James R Wright

I worked for Lou Murray and the USAF at LMSC ...

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2016

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I worked for Lou Murray and the USAF at LMSC (Lockheed Missiles and Space Company) and the STC (Satellite Test Center -- Sunnyvale) in CORONA operations during the mid 1960s. I only recently learned that CORONA was declassified in 1995 by Bill Clinton. My participation on CORONA left me with only a very narrow view of of the entire program. Richelson provides me now with the larger environment in which I was embedded. Let me add that I was working in the CORONA Master Control Complex in Sunnyvale the evening that Derrick Fong tripped and dropped a tub with hundreds of CORONA IBM FORTRAN maneuver cards on the floor just minutes before the command to unload a spacecraft payload bucket was to be uplinked. Derrick scrambled the deck together, ran the FORTRAN program, and the maneuver command was uplinked. The payload bucket, to be dropped into a specific strip in the ocean, was never found. Leaving LMSC, the remainder of my 50+ year career as aerospace engineer was spent in developing advanced orbit determination systems for NASA GODDARD and the US military. I briefed Bob Kohler repeatedly at technical meetings, PDR, and CDR on programs that followed CORONA. I have a question for Richelson: Are all the statements in your book validated by the government to be unclassified? I have developed a much larger view of my role in those programs by reading your book, and am thankful to have it.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

2008 avalanche

LOTS of detail...too much for me

Reviewed in the United States on October 23, 2019

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It's not you, it's me.......VERY detailed book on the technology development history, however it was a bit dry and read more like an encyclopedia for me, i couldn't finish it....

Helpful

Ryan Lesniewski

Needs more wizardry

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2006

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If you go into reading this book with the idea that you are going to be learning about amazing gadgets and strange experiments you might finish the book disappointed. If you go into reading this book hoping to learn about the bureaucracy of the CIA than you'll probably leave satisfied. While Richelson does spend a portion of the book talking about technical wizardry such as spy satellites, spy planes, and other James Bond fare, much of the book is spent talking about directorate organization and hierarchy, and the political infighting that comes along with it.

This wouldn't be a problem if the book were billed as such. However, the book's back cover and description lead you to believe otherwise. The crazy directorate experiments using hallucinogens and telepathy are mentioned in the description but they take up less than a chapter in the book.

The book is incredibly well researched and can at times be an enjoyable read. However, a disproportionate amount of book space is taken up talking about organizational structure and agency politics. Two subjects that I find little interest in. If this book had stressed wizardry over policy it would be a five star selection, as the technical talk is incredibly interesting, well done and enlightening. However, this book focuses is on bureaucracy and suffers because of it.

8 people found this helpful

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Harry Pandolfino

Informational

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2001

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An informative history of the U.S. intelligence efforts over the years to use creative technology to gather information. A chronology of how the desire for intelligence spawned the U2, the SR-71 and spy satellites and also how the agency discovers cutting edge technology which it sometimes releases to the private sector to be applied. Unfortunately the writing is very dry with too much focus on the history of internecine rivalries and power struggles which will probably not interest the average reader. A good read in order to get a balanced view of the value of the CIA which is often maligned and under-appreciated.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

removeb4flight

Dry text with a few gems of info

Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2006

Verified Purchase

Richelson has written a very complete, documented, book on the Directorate of Science and Technology. However, unless you are looking for how government organizations function, or don't function, there isn't much new information on the technological accomplisments of the CIA that hasn't been written about elsewhere. I found the detailed reporting on who hated who, and how the defense department fought with the CIA for control of programs only slightly interesting. The technological achievements of the CIA were really interesting but sometimes amounted to a half page of good stuff, then back to the petty infighting within the government. I don't recommend this book unless you are doing a research paper.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Robert J Kohler

Very Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2019

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I worked in the Science and Technology Directorate in CIA for several years. This book is well researched and mostly accurate. While there are a few errors they do not distract from the book and the accomplishments it describes.

Helpful

TyCoon

History

Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

I recommend this book. It is heavy on details and the names get confusing because there are so many, but the history is exciting

Helpful

EastCoastGuy

Who's who of Langley

Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2014

Verified Purchase

Too deep into the weeds for me

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Garrold

Brilliant bit of scientific spookery

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2013

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I am not sure why I bought this book, but I am glad I did. It is the tale of all sorts of alleged scientific spookery and the people (the eponymous "wizards" of the title) who made it so. I suppose we will never know how much is true, but some of projects are awe inspiring (the U2 spy plane for example), while others are a little stange (telepathic experiments for example). A colleague recommended "Blind Man's Buff" a few years ago, and it was interesting that "The Wizards of Langley" is more more favourable in its commentary on the submarine allegedly used to salvage a Soviet submarine, Glomar Explorer, than that book. The one fault that the book does have is a love of acronyms. There are a lot, expanded on first use, which I found difficult to remember.

One person found this helpful

Alessandro

Slow start - UPDATED

Reviewed in Italy on January 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

Update: definitely not the book I hoped to get. Too many pages on CIA organization and very few accounts on the scientific discoveries and experiments of the Science directorate.

I'm still half way through the book. The first chapter focuses a lot on the vicissitudes of the Directorate leaders and how the military services tried to limit its authority. I was expecting more stories on the scientific experiments and discoveries, thus I found it boring at times. Chapter two is better, on this regard.

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