The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception

by H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace

Book Overview

Once a top-secret training manual for CIA field agents in the early Cold War Era of the 1950s, The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception--a key component of the infamous MK-ULTRA campaign--is now available to the general public.

An amazing historical artifact, this eye-opening handbook offered step-by-step instructions to covert intelligence operatives in all manner of sleight of hand and trickery designed to thwart...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061725900
• ISBN13: 9780061725906
• Release Date: November 2010
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.8" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

I bought it as a gift for a friend, and He is very happy for having it,because His hobby is to read

I bought it as a gift for a friend, and He is very happy for having it,because His hobby is to read those kind of books.After He had read it,was very glad that He had this book in His hands.

Fascinating and Enlightening

Kudos to authors Wallace and Melton for sharing this time capsule from the past and spicing it up with their own commentary and annotations. One Thing: There is a typo on p. 58, regarding the Hollow Nickel Case. The nickel was found in 1953, not 1935 (that would have been quite a trick, given that the nickel in question was dated 1948)...this is probably something that has already been remedied in subsequent printings. But again, bravo!

Very Interesting

I found the book to be very interesting. If you are in to Magic as I am, then you will find this book interesting as to how it has been used, in this case by the CIA. I would recommend it to anyone interested in something that is different and interesting.

Clowns

The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception, Fun read, if it's a true CIA manual, then this world is run by clowns.

Finally available, the legendary stage magic books for the CIA

Stage magician John Mulholland wrote this pair of manuals for the CIA in the early 1950s. All copies were believed to have been destroyed, though stories of the sleight of hand and secret communication documents have carried down through the decades. One copy of each manual were discovered though, and now declassified, appear here in print. It's an interesting book for both the stage magic and the history of CIA spycraft folks. Though the cover makes it clear that they figure the market will be from those interested in the CIA "trickery and deception." It's not as exciting as a James Bond version would be, unless you can put the movies and fiction aside and feel the thrill of the real deal. These manuals were written to help CIA case officers pass documents to agents without notice, or to hold-out hide small objects. The real nuts and bolts of espionage. Makes sense to go to the magicians who do that sort of thing daily, though with lower consequences of failure. Anyway, it's an odd glimpse into the CIA's past, before electronics and email intercepts, before senate investigations, and with the looming threat of the Cold War a very real part of the story. I enjoyed it.