Lights, Camera, Espionage: Hollywood and the OSS
Alan Ladd on cover of “Modern Screen”, April 1946. Cropped. Throughout the course of the Second World War, a significant number of Hollywood’s finest chose to serve their nation by…
James Bond: A Mirror of His Times
Bronze bust of the author Ian Fleming by the British sculptor Anthony Smith. Commissioned by the Fleming family to commemorate the centenary of Ian Fleming’s birth in 2008. Photo by…
Somerset Maugham: Celebrated British Writer and Spy
Photo of Maugham by Carl Van Vechten, 1934. Photo cropped. Library of Congress. William Somerset Maugham, known as Somerset Maugham, was born on January 25, 1874, in Paris, France. He…
The Hashshashin: Assassins of Persia
Remains of the Alamut Castle in Qazvin, Iran. Photo by Alireza Javaheri / CC BY 3.0 Copped/DEED. Cropped. The Hashshashin, also known as the Assassins, were a religious sect of…
PSYOPS: Influencing Minds for a Strategic Impact
Soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 350th Tactical Psychological Operations, 10th Mountain Division, drop leaflets over a village near Hawijah in Kirkuk province, Iraq, on March 6, 2008. The leaflets are…
The British Commandos: Elite Warriors of World War II
Commandos of 1st Special Service Brigade in Osnabruck, 4 April 1945. Georger Laws, No 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit. Imperial War Museum. The British Commandos played a crucial role…
Decoding Victory: How U.S. Intelligence Turned the Tide at Midway
Scene on board USS Yorktown (CV-5), during the Battle of Midway, 4 June 1942, shortly after she was hit by three Japanese bombs on the same day, what would cause…
Animal Spies: The Use of Animals in Intelligence
Spy pigeon in CIA Museum. Photo: Central Intelligence Agency. The world of espionage, often associated with covert operations, secret agents, and high-tech spy gadgets, has had some unexpected participants —…
The Magic of Espionage: Magician John Mulholland and the CIA
The magician John Mulholland. Photo from “Story of Magic”, Loring & Mussey. 1935. Cropped. I find it far simpler to fool an audience of Princeton undergraduates than a kindergarten class,…
The Commemorative Air Force: Preserving History, Inspiring the Future
B25 Mitchell — Chino Airshow 2014. Photo: Airwolfhound from Hertfordshire, UK / CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED. The Commemorative Air Force (CAF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and showcasing…