The Wizards of Langley: Inside The CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology

Rating:
Summary: Interpretation at its best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Where is the Wiz?
Review: I found the book boring beyond belief, although it is undoubtedly researched well. It is a listing of positions, personal disputes and names of people who held positions. I was sorry I ordered it.

Rating:
Summary: Well Researched but Poorly Written
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Well Researched but Poorly Written
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Pathetic
Review: NOT like "Q" in James Bond. This book is about empire-building, politics, the "Potomac shuffle game" and wasting taxpayer money. Don't waste your money on this book.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Background and History
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: a boring bureaucratic tale
Review: The book is really boring. It is very detatailed in terms
of the personnel in the CIA and specifically the scient and tech, dept. But it so really not interesting at all.
From a history viewpoint it is a good summary but for a layman there is nothing much of interest.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, CIA scientists are recognized
Review: The CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology far out distanced the traditional "spooks" during the cold war by inventing truly incredible machines -- a variety of reconnaissance satellites, to take one example -- for so-called technical collection. It's triumphs were often extraordinary, yet the pervasive requirement for secrecy kept most of them in the dark. Now Jeffrey T. Richelson -- unquestionably the best in the world at what he does -- has finally given public recognition to men and women who could not do so for themselves. Their crucial role in winning wars, both hot and cold, has finally been told. All citizens of this country should read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not much of the wizards
Review: This book is more a history of the politics of the CIA leadership and the DOD than the technical wizards. Compared to Bamford's books on the NSA this book contains no actual technical information and very little actual history of the CIA's technology based programs. For those interested in how individual personality plays a major role in government this book would be great but for one seeking background on technology and its applications to intelligence the book is a waste.

Rating:
Summary: Well-researched but tedious
Review: 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.