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 enlarge | Authors: Jeffrey T Richelson, Jeffrey T. Richelson
Publisher: Basic Books
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $2.14
You Save: $17.81 (89%)
New (26) Used (35) from $1.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 68216
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: 327
EAN: 9780813340593
ASIN: 0813340594
Publication Date: December 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 386 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade.
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| Customer Reviews:
 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.
Well-researched but tedious September 23, 2002
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book might be a useful resource to scholars researching the history of the CIA's Science and Technology Directorate. For the general reader, however, it is a tedious story of bureaucratic infighting that quickly becomes a chore to read.
 The Fascintating Turned Dull August 1, 2002
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I agree with the other reviewer that this is an incredibly boring book. It should be a crime to take so many fascinating projects, problems, and people and turn them into endless, dry, droning lists. There IS no narrative to the book. It reads like a Google search on technology...without any of the interest added by being able to check out the links. I bought the book because I heard the author in an interview, and he was very interesting. Too bad none of that comes through in the book.
 good book with limitations June 28, 2002
This book was written with the cooperation of the CIA which greatly influenced it. It contains correct information on a limited number of projects mostly very old in time and technology. Even then portions of these projects are not discussed. It also details the shortcomings of people in the military and White House without describing the shortcomings of many CIA project leaders and managers. I personally know of one person praised in numerous chapters who later went into industry. He was the head of a high technology company. By the time that higher authority in the company became aware of his poor performance and booted him out, enough damage had been done that the company never recovered. It declined in technology level and size until it got absorbed by another company.
Interesting Background and History June 3, 2002
Readers seeking information on any aspect of the CIA must bear in mind that the available information is very limited. So many aspects of what goes on simply cannot be revealed. Keeping that in mind, "Wizards of Langley" offers an interesting history of the Agency and background for the DS&T. It does not go so much into details of the Directorate's everyday work as it goes into the history and politics. It does not come to life like a story of individual people, but is interesting nevertheless.
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