A Collection of Curiosities

You might not be surprised to find a magic wand hanging next to a hidden camera in a toy shop, but what about a real-life magician working at the C.I.A.? Back in the 1950s, the Agency did in fact employ a magic man named John Mulholland, who wrote a surprisingly entertaining and illuminating manual on deception that has just now been published as part of The Official C.I.A. Manual of Trickery and Deception. For spy buffs and those interested in the art of illusion, it’s a quick and delightful read, complete with wonderful sketches of spy tools and plenty of history, too.

At the height of U.S. paranoia over the spread of communism, the C.I.A. would stop at nothing to give American spies the edge. Authors H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace describe the fear and paranoia over Fidel Castro, the K.G.B. and other Cold War enemies, and delve deep into a top-secret program called MK Ultra, for which Mulholland was recruited to write his manual. Hollow pencils hiding secret powders, trick matchbooks, disguises—all the James Bond stuff is in here. What’s most shocking is that it was all for regular men, and not for Daniel Craig.