
Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach
America's Techno-Spy Empire
Kristie Macrakis(Author)
Georgetown University Press
Published on 3. April 2023
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-1-64712-323-9 (ISBN)
Description
An eye-opening account of the perils of America's techno-spy empire
Ever since the earliest days of the Cold War, American intelligence agencies have launched spies in the sky, implanted spies in the ether, burrowed spies underground, sunk spies in the ocean, and even tried to control spies' minds by chemical means. But these weren't human spies. Instead, the United States expanded its reach around the globe through techno-spies.
Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach investigates how America's technophiles inadvertently created a global espionage empire: one based on technology, not land. Author Kristie Macrakis shows how in the process of staking out the globe through technology, US intelligence created the ability to collect a massive amount of data. But did it help? Featuring the sites visited during her research and stories of the people who created the techno-spy empire, Macrakis guides the reader from its conception in the 1950s to its global reach in the Cold War and Global War on Terror.
In an age of ubiquitous technology, Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach exposes the perils of relying too much on technology while demonstrating how the US carried on the tradition of British imperial espionage. Readers interested in the history of espionage and technology as well as those who work in the intelligence field will find the revelations and insights in Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach fascinating and compelling.
Ever since the earliest days of the Cold War, American intelligence agencies have launched spies in the sky, implanted spies in the ether, burrowed spies underground, sunk spies in the ocean, and even tried to control spies' minds by chemical means. But these weren't human spies. Instead, the United States expanded its reach around the globe through techno-spies.
Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach investigates how America's technophiles inadvertently created a global espionage empire: one based on technology, not land. Author Kristie Macrakis shows how in the process of staking out the globe through technology, US intelligence created the ability to collect a massive amount of data. But did it help? Featuring the sites visited during her research and stories of the people who created the techno-spy empire, Macrakis guides the reader from its conception in the 1950s to its global reach in the Cold War and Global War on Terror.
In an age of ubiquitous technology, Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach exposes the perils of relying too much on technology while demonstrating how the US carried on the tradition of British imperial espionage. Readers interested in the history of espionage and technology as well as those who work in the intelligence field will find the revelations and insights in Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach fascinating and compelling.
Reviews / Votes
The chapters are easy to understand and the bibliography is excellent. Overall, this book is recommended for anyone who wants to understand espionage and technology. * CHOICE connect * Definitively researched and documented, exceptionally well written, organized, and presented, readers with an interest in the history of espionage and technology (as well as those who work in the intelligence field) will find the revelations and insights revealed in Nothing Is Beyond Our Reach to be informative, fascinating, compelling, and alarming. * Midwest Book Review * Macrakis provides a complex narrative weaving together multiple institutional histories of concurrent growth in a global Cold War context. * H-Sci-Med-Tech * The deft way that Macrakis uses the material to humanize these men and share their celebration makes the book a delight....Macrakis strongly supported her "three-act story" with data, anecdotes, and illustrations, but more importantly to me, she tells a riveting story as only a fine storyteller can. * H-Diplo *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Washington, DC
United States
Target group
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
Not illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 230 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
556 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64712-323-9 (9781647123239)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2023
Georgetown University Press
€29.49
Available for download
Person
Kristie Macrakis is professor of the history of technology and intelligence at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the author of many other books, including Prisoners, Lovers, and Spies: The Story of Invisible Ink from Herodotus to al-Qaeda and Seduced by Secrets: Inside the Stasi's Spy Tech World.
Content
List of Illustrations
Preface
Introduction
I. Foundations
1. The Days of Mata Hari are Over (An Origin Story)
2. Can a Tunnel Become a Double Agent?
3. In the Mind
II. Going Global
4. Our Machine in Havana
5. Betrayal Under the Ocean
6. Turner's Technological Turn
III. Fully Global
7. Passing the Global Espionage Torch
8. Crypto AG
9. Global Eyes
10. A Global Killing Machine
Conclusion: Information Gluttons
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Preface
Introduction
I. Foundations
1. The Days of Mata Hari are Over (An Origin Story)
2. Can a Tunnel Become a Double Agent?
3. In the Mind
II. Going Global
4. Our Machine in Havana
5. Betrayal Under the Ocean
6. Turner's Technological Turn
III. Fully Global
7. Passing the Global Espionage Torch
8. Crypto AG
9. Global Eyes
10. A Global Killing Machine
Conclusion: Information Gluttons
Bibliography
Index
About the Author