"Some twenty-five years after its conclusion, yet with its echoes resonating once more in contemporary East-West relations, the rigors and detail of many aspects of the Cold War are becoming increasingly of interest. Furthermore, at the very same time many of the records of the period are beginning to become accessible for the first time. At the forefront of this unique conflict, that divided the world into two opposing camps for over four decades, were the security services and the agents of these secretive organizations. The Cold War Pocket Manual presents a meticulously compiled selection of recently unclassified documents, field-manuals, briefing directives and intelligence primers that uncover the training and techniques required to function as a spy in the darkest periods of modern history. Material has been researched from the CIA, MI5 and MI6, the KGB, the STASI as well as from the Middle East security services and on into China and the East. As insightful as any drama these documents detail, amongst many other things, the directives that informed nuclear espionage, assassinations, interrogations and the ‘turning’ of agents and impacted upon the Suez Crisis, the Hungarian Uprising, the ‘Cambridge Five’ and the most tellingly the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. • Full introduction and commentary provided by leading historian and former diplomat Philip Parker. • Complete with a catalogue of, and often instructions for, genuine espionage devices including lock decoders, bugging equipment, a 4.5mm single-shot lipstick gun, microfilm concealing coins and cameras mounted in clothing or pens and shoe-concealed tracking devices. • Presents for the first time the insightful documents, many of which inspired Cold War novelists including John Le Carré, Len Deighton and Ian Fleming, and many of which they would never have seen. "

"Some twenty-five years after its conclusion, yet with its echoes resonating once more in contemporary East-West relations, the rigors and detail of many aspects of the Cold War are becoming increasingly of interest. Furthermore, at the very same time many of the records of the period are beginning to become accessible for the first time. At the forefront of this unique conflict, that divided the world into two opposing camps for over four decades, were the security services and the agents of these secretive organizations. The Cold War Pocket Manual presents a meticulously compiled selection of recently unclassified documents, field-manuals, briefing directives and intelligence primers that uncover the training and techniques required to function as a spy in the darkest periods of modern history. Material has been researched from the CIA, MI5 and MI6, the KGB, the STASI as well as from the Middle East security services and on into China and the East. As insightful as any drama these documents detail, amongst many other things, the directives that informed nuclear espionage, assassinations, interrogations and the ‘turning’ of agents and impacted upon the Suez Crisis, the Hungarian Uprising, the ‘Cambridge Five’ and the most tellingly the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. • Full introduction and commentary provided by leading historian and former diplomat Philip Parker. • Complete with a catalogue of, and often instructions for, genuine espionage devices including lock decoders, bugging equipment, a 4.5mm single-shot lipstick gun, microfilm concealing coins and cameras mounted in clothing or pens and shoe-concealed tracking devices. • Presents for the first time the insightful documents, many of which inspired Cold War novelists including John Le Carré, Len Deighton and Ian Fleming, and many of which they would never have seen. "

The indispensable guerilla warfare manual, first developed by the Russian military during WWII—with a thorough introduction on its legendary history. During the Second World War, the Red Army developed The Partisan's Companion to train Soviet guerillas to fight Nazi invaders It contains the Soviet lessons of two bitter years of war, covering field craft, guerilla tactics, German counter-guerrilla tactics, demolitions, German and Soviet weapons, scouting, camouflage, anti-tank warfare and anti-aircraft defense for squad and platoon-level instruction. It proved so effective that it was later used to train Third World guerrillas in their wars of national liberation during the 1950s–70s, and even the Fedayeen guerrillas who fought US and coalition forces in Iraq. The Soviet partisans moved and lived clandestinely, harassed the enemy, and supported the Red Army through reconnaissance and attacks on German supply lines. They clearly frustrated German logistics and forced the Germans to periodically sideline divisions for rear-area security. The partisans and their handbook were a vital part of the eventual Soviet victory over Germany. This pocket manual puts The Partisan's Companion in context, explaining its importance.

Magic or spycraft? In 1953, against the backdrop of the Cold War, the CIA initiated a top-secret program, code-named MKULTRA, to counter Soviet mind-control and interrogation techniques. Realizing that clandestine officers might need to covertly deploy newly developed pills, potions, and powders against the adversary, the CIA hired America's most famous magician, John Mulholland, to write two manuals on sleight of hand and undercover communication techniques. In 1973, virtually all documents related to MKULTRA were destroyed. Mulholland's manuals were thought to be among them—until a single surviving copy of each, complete with illustrations, was recently discovered in the agency's archives. The manuals reprinted in this work represent the only known complete copy of Mulholland's instructions for CIA officers on the magician's art of deception and secret communications.

The National Security Agency is the world’s most powerful, most far-reaching espionage. Now with a new afterword describing the security lapses that preceded the attacks of September 11, 2001, Body of Secrets takes us to the inner sanctum of America’s spy world. In the follow-up to his bestselling Puzzle Palace, James Banford reveals the NSA’s hidden role in the most volatile world events of the past, and its desperate scramble to meet the frightening challenges of today and tomorrow. Here is a scrupulously documented account—much of which is based on unprecedented access to previously undisclosed documents—of the agency’s tireless hunt for intelligence on enemies and allies alike. Body of secrets is a riveting analysis of this most clandestine of agencies, a major work of history and investigative journalism. A New York Times Notable Book

Following nearly a decade of research, this account solves the mysterious death of biochemist Frank Olson, revealing the identities of his murderers in shocking detail. It offers a unique and unprecedented look into the backgrounds of many former CIA, FBI, and Federal Narcotics Bureau officials—including several who actually oversaw the CIA's mind-control programs from the 1950s to the 1970s. In retracing these programs, a frequently bizarre and always frightening world is introduced, colored and dominated by many factors—Cold War fears, the secret relationship between the nation's drug enforcement agencies and the CIA, and the government's close collaboration with the Mafia.

This Simple Sabotage Field Manual, a genuine guide from the Second World War, states that its purpose is to "characterize simple sabotage, to outline its possible effects, and to present suggestions for inciting and executing it." Among the other fine pieces of advice in this handy volume, one is encouraged to "switch address labels on enemy baggage", "let cutting tools grow dull", "forget to provide paper in toilets", and "change sign posts at intersections and forks; the enemy will go the wrong way and it may be miles before he discovers his mistakes."