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

by Jeffrey T. Richelson (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 49 ratings
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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.
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  1. Print length
    416 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    December 5, 2002
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 1.05 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0813340594
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0813340593
  7. See all details
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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 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.05 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 49 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
49 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

James R Wright
5.0 out of 5 stars I worked for Lou Murray and the USAF at LMSC ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2016
Verified Purchase
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.
5 people found this helpful
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Cheryl Summers
5.0 out of 5 stars Unique history of the CIA
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2023
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The book explores the science and technology departments at the CIA. Discusses specific inventions and partnerships, such as with Lockheed Martin. Traces the origin of the technology competition between the CIA and military.
One person found this helpful
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Andrew S. Rogers
4.0 out of 5 stars Not James Bond ... and Definitely Not 'Q'
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2001
David Letterman once described his TV show as 'info-tainment without the "info" ... or the "tainment."' I'm tempted to describe this book as a technothriller without the 'thriller.' It definitely has the 'techno,' though.
Let me say up front that I don't think this is entirely author Jeffrey Richelson's fault. He is one of America's top historians of the intelligence community, and this book is exhaustively researched and documented (the first chapter alone has 173 endnotes). I just found the subject of all this research much less exciting than I thought it would be. For all their sci-tech wizardry, the 'wizards of Langley' were, at the end of the day, still a bunch of bureaucrats. Their battlefields were as much institutional as geopolitical, and that makes Richelson's story bureaucratic and institutional too.
Maybe I was spoiled by Bamford's 'Body of Secrets,' about the NSA, which combines technological detail with exciting stories of front-line espionage, but it seemed to me Richelson sometimes took too light a touch on interesting operational stories in order to get back to chronicling the CIA's changing organization chart. The attempted recovery of a sunken Soviet submarine, or the infamous BLUEBIRD-ARTICHOKE-MKDELTA experiments with mind-altering drugs, for example, were zipped over in just a couple of pages. It is true, though, that these topics are covered extensively in other books.
In all, I can see how 'The Wizards of Langley' will be useful for people interested in the personalities and politics behind a key element of America's intelligence apparatus. Journalists or specialist historians, for example. But I'm afraid the general reader with an interest in intelligence operations may find this book rough, and even unrewarding, sledding. It's for that first group -- for whom this book could be an excellent resource -- that I'm giving it as high a rating as I am.
42 people found this helpful
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2008 avalanche
2.0 out of 5 stars LOTS of detail...too much for me
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 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....
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Robert J Kohler
5.0 out of 5 stars 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.
One person found this helpful
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TyCoon
5.0 out of 5 stars History
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2013
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I recommend this book. It is heavy on details and the names get confusing because there are so many, but the history is exciting
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Ryan Lesniewski
3.0 out of 5 stars 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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William E. Burrows
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, CIA scientists are recognized
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2001
The CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology far out distanced the traditional "spooks" during the cold war by inventing truly incredible machines -- a variety of reconnaissance satellites, to take one example -- for so-called technical collection. It's triumphs were often extraordinary, yet the pervasive requirement for secrecy kept most of them in the dark. Now Jeffrey T. Richelson -- unquestionably the best in the world at what he does -- has finally given public recognition to men and women who could not do so for themselves. Their crucial role in winning wars, both hot and cold, has finally been told. All citizens of this country should read this book.
6 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Alessandro
2.0 out of 5 stars Slow start - UPDATED
Reviewed in Italy on January 3, 2021
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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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Garrold
5.0 out of 5 stars 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.
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