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The Wizards of Langley: Inside The CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology | 
 enlarge | Authors: Jeffrey T Richelson, Jeffrey T. Richelson
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy Used: $2.53
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Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 61618
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 0813340594
Dewey Decimal Number: 324
EAN: 9780813340593
ASIN: 0813340594
Publication Date: December 2002
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Condition: Standard used condition.
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Amazon.com Review
For many, the CIA conjures up a shadowy world of spies, international intrigue, and secret corridors of power. While this image may be partially accurate, the primary function of the agency is less romantic: the collection and analysis of information. To this end, the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology is indispensable. As the group responsible for creating the tools that allow the spymasters to do their jobs, the DS&T has been "a key element in the history of both the CIA and the entire intelligence community," writes Jeffrey Richelson, a specialist on American intelligence operations. In The Wizards of Langley, he traces the directorate from its inception in 1947 to the present, analyzing each aspect of its activities and responsibilities in exhaustive detail, along with the infighting and political wrangling that have accompanied its growth. As Richelson points out, there were some missteps, such as administering LSD to scientists without their knowledge (one committed suicide as a result), employing cats as bugging devices, and the use of psychics, but overall the DS&T has made "an enormous contribution to U.S. intelligence capabilities and national security." Notably, the directorate has developed the U-2 spy plane and some of the U.S.'s most important surveillance satellites, and has been a pioneer in photointerpretation, the collection of signals intelligence, and foreign missile and space programs analysis. Some innovations have even had significant effects beyond the intelligence community, such as lithium batteries for pacemakers and methods for the detection of breast cancer. The book also offers a wealth of anecdotes, giving readers a rare look at top-secret operations and spy games of the cold war. Though the sheer amount of detail sometimes bogs down the narrative, this is a gold mine for those interested in the largely unsung heroes who have enabled the CIA to work so effectively. --Shawn Carkonen
Product Description
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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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Needs more wizardry July 28, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
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.
Dry text with a few gems of info June 1, 2006
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
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.
The "Bureaucrats" of Langley March 11, 2005
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
If I had read Andrew S. Rogers's review of this book (see below), "The Wizards of Langley" would have moved to the back of the queue of unread volumes on my bookself. While Richelson does an excellent job researching and documenting the organizational history of the CIA's Directorate of Science & Technology (DST), he drags the reader through a morass of details regarding the bureaucratic battles among various organizations within the U.S. Intelligence Community.
When Richelson manages to take a break from the tedium of bureaucratic infighting, he spends most of his time describing the development of reconnaissance aircraft (such as the U-2) and various signals intelligence (SIGINT) activities, with a focus on satellite programs. For a much more captivating history of SIGINT programs, I (like Rogers) would recommend James Bamford's "Body of Secrets".
One of the more interesting anecdotes in "Wizards" occurs toward the end of Chapter 7, where Richelson describes how Antonio Mendez orchestrated the escape of six American diplomats out of Iran after the fall of the Shah. Although Richelson only devotes three pages to this story, he succeeded in piquing my interest enough to purchase Mendez's own book, "Master of Disguise".
If it wasn't for Richelson's excellence as a journalist and historian, I would have given this book a lower rating. If you are writing a research paper on the history of the DST, look no further. However, if you seek enthralling tales of technological wizardry or derring-do, you would be better served elsewhere.
 Interpretation at its best!!!!!!!!!!!!!! February 2, 2003
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Dr. Richelson, who is a senior fellow at the National Security Archives, gives a highly recommendable interpretation of the Directorate of Science and Technology, at the CIA. His book is based mostly on declassified documents, making its stories highly believable and interesting.
 Well Researched but Poorly Written December 29, 2002
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I must agree with previous reviewer comments. This book attempts to describe the Directorate of Science and Technology, yet it focuses on the bureaucracy of upper management and has little discussion regarding the programs and technologies created by the DS&T. This organization has played a cricial role in shaping modern history, yet the book is dull and uninteresting to read.
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