Category: 5 Star

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Review: Keeping Abreast of Science and Technology: Technical Intelligence for Business

5 Star, Intelligence (Commercial)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN//ossnet-20
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN//ossnet-20

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on the market for technical business intelligence,

April 8, 2000
W. Bradford Ashton
Dick is a genius, and he and Bradford Ashton have pulled together a number of very fine contributions in this book. Still, they sum it up nicely in the concluding chapter: “The formal practice of developing technical intelligence in American business is only in its infancy.” They have a nice appendix of sources on scientific and technical intelligence that is missing a few big obvious sources like the Canadian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI) and the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) as well as the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) and several smaller sources. On balance, this technical intelligence community is, as Bradford notes, in its infancy. It is U.S. centric, does not yet understand operational security and counterintelligence, is weak of cost intelligence, relies too heavily on registered patents, and has too few practical successes stories. Especially troubling is the recent trend within DIA and the Air Force of cutting off all funding for open source exploitation of Chinese and other foreign S&T sources, combined with a dismantling by many corporations of their libraries and most basic market research functions. This book is an essential reference and I admire its authors greatly-sadly, they are part of a small minority that has not yet found its full voice.
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Review: The Puzzle Palace–Inside the National Security Agency, America’s Most Secret Intelligence Organization

5 Star, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Best book on SIGINT, best use of open sources,

April 8, 2000
James Bamford
The book is nothing short of sensational, for two reasons: itis the first and still the only really comprehensive look at globalsignals intelligence operations as dominated by the National Security Agency; and second, because all of his research was done using only open sources, including unclassified employee newsletters at Alice Springs, and he did a great job of making the most out of legally and ethically available information. James is still around, working on another book about SIGINT, and I believe that only he will be able to top this one.
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Review: Deep Black–Space Espionage and National Security

5 Star, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

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5.0 out of 5 stars

Best book on Cold War spy satellites in space,

April 8, 2000
William E. Burrows
This is still the only really great book on overhead reconnaissance, and I have been surprised and disappointed to see it overlooked by the mainstream intelligence academics. Contains useful early history on why we got into technical collection (our human spies kept getting killed on arrival as we took the easy route of recruiting from émigré organizations already penetrated by the KGB and GRU). Ends with a passing reference to commercial imagery, a topic that merits its own book.

To Fool a Glass Eye: Camouflage Versus Photoreconnaissance in World War II recommended by comment below.

Also:
Commercial Satellite Imagery and GIS (Springer Praxis Books / Geophysical Sciences)
Commercial Satellite Imagery and United Nations Peacekeeping: A View from Above

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Review: The Very Best Men–Four Who Dared–The Early Years of the CIA

5 Star, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Best deep look at why the emperor has no clothes,

April 8, 2000
Evan Thomas
I almost broke two fountain pens on this book, and that is close to my highest compliment. Depending on one's mood, it will move any person with a deep knowledge of intelligence to tears or laughter. This is a really superior detailed look at the men that set the tone for clandestine operations in the 20th century: “Patriotic, decent, well-meaning, and brave, they were also uniquely unsuited to the grubby, necessarily devious world of intelligence.” From card file mentalities to Chiefs of Station not speaking the language, to off-the-cuff decision making and a refusal to include CIA analysts in strategic deliberations, this is an accurate and important study that has not gotten the attention it merits from the media or the oversight staffs.
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Review: Merchants of Treason–America’s Secrets for Sale

5 Star, Impeachment & Treason, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

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5.0 out of 5 stars The only real “catalog” of American traitors during Cold War,

April 8, 2000
Norman Polmar
Roughly 100 American traitors, most of them within the U.S. defense establishment, are itemized in this book, the only such over-all review I have encountered. As I have said on several occasions that I believe we have at least 500-750 additional cases of espionage to discover, at least half of them controlled by our “allies”, this book is for me a helpful reminder of the true pervasiveness of betrayal in a Nation where opportunism and financial gain often outweigh loyalty and principle.
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Review: Blond Ghost

5 Star, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Spend Money, Get Lots of Folks Killed, Lose Anyway…,

April 8, 2000
David Corn
Although Ted Shackley was a line case officer, this book is placed within the paramilitary section because his entire career encompassed a series of wars where the CIA played a very tragic and unproductive role. As Shackley's deputy in Laos is quoted on page 163, speaking on Shakley's accomplishments in Laos, “We spent a lot of money and got a lot of people killed,” Lair remembered, “and we didn't get much for it.” For those seeking to understand the bureaucratization of the Directorate of Operations, both in the field and in Washington, this is essential reading.
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Review: The First Directorate–My 32 Years in Intelligence and Espionage Against the West

5 Star, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Formidable, insightful, humorous, and valuable,

April 8, 2000
Oleg Kalugin
Oleg, now a green-card resident of the U.S. is our most personable and enjoyable former opponent on the intelligence speaking circuit, and both Bill Colby and I supported him in his efforts to move permanently to America. His book is a marvelous account on the general details of his formidable career that culminated in his being elected to the Russian Parliament. Page 222, “Kill the dog!”, has a special meaning for professionals the world over.
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noble gold