Richelson, Jeffrey T. Ruffner, Kevin C., ed. CORONA: America's First Satellite Program. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 1995.
This is a compendium of declassified documents and imagery from the CORONA program, released at the May 1995 conference "Piercing the Curtain: CORONA and the Revolution in Intelligence."
Skorve, Johnny. The Kola Satellite Image: Perspectives on Arms Control and Environmental Protection. Oslo, Norway: The Norwegian Atlantic Committee, 1991.
Surveillant 1.6: This work "shows that intelligence gathering can be easily accomplished by Landsat-TM images and presents 17 photos showing the Kola peninsula -- a location holding many of the Soviet Union's nuclear warheads. Each map is analyzed and one easily follows the development and growth of, first, Schagui Air Base from 1972 to 1988, and then Gremikha Naval Base."
Taubman, Philip. Secret Empire: Eisenhower, the CIA, and the Hidden Story of America's Space Espionage. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.
From http://www.secretempirethebook.com: "Taubman ... tells ... the gripping story of one of the great spy enterprises of the twentieth century -- the creation of reconnaissance satellites and high-altitude spy planes.... Taubman uncovers startling information about the origins and evolution of the projects, and how close they came to failing."
Umansky, Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2003, comments that "[t]he story of how scientists eventually broke through th[e] barriers [to reconnaissance from space] ... could make for a fascinating tale. But Secret Empire isn't it. Taubman, a longtime New York Times editor and reporter, is not a lively writer. And despite his efforts, the book's characters blend into one -- an overachieving, patriotic man who loves flying.
"This wouldn't have been a problem if Taubman had focused on some of the larger questions about satellites and intelligence policy.... But the book is mostly small-bore, resolutely sticking to a step-by-tiny-step history of the program. Frequently, the only obvious point seems to be to get it all down on paper. The result, unfortunately, is often something only a satellite buff, or perhaps a product manager, could love."
The reviewer for Publishers Weekly, 17 Feb. 2003, has a different view of Taubman's work, calling it an "exciting, meticulously researched spy story.... [It] functions marvelously as a history of science, detailing the research, engineering and policy decisions behind the U2 and Corona, but it's also an excellent social history of the Cold War in the 1950s and early '60s. It's a page-turner as well."
Freedman, FA 82.3, finds that "Taubman provides a wealth of detail..., based on many interviews and copious research. He weaves together complex strategic, organizational, and engineering issues, managing to convey the drama and excitement of a race to find some way of getting consistent and reliable intelligence on Soviet nuclear missiles at a time when the United States was widely assumed to be falling behind."
For Mahnken, NWCR 57.1, this "history of the strategic issues, politics, personalities, and technologies that drove the development of America’s extraordinary space reconnaissance capability ... does a splendid job of interpreting the significance of the technical problems encountered and the brilliant ingenuity of the solutions." The author is "attuned to the importance of the enabling technologies and brings their role and impact to the reader’s understanding."
Bath, NIPQ 19.3, "strongly" recommends this work "to layman and specialist alike." Although the work "adds little new or startling to reconnaissance history," it pulls together "the many strands of the story into one coherent and highly readable volume."
To Robarge, Studies 48.1, the author "has filled the 'if you read only one book on the subject, this is it' category. Secret Empire is an accessible, thorough (but not definitive) synthesis for the general reader."
Day, IJI&C 17.4 (Winter 2004-2005), finds that this work is "[r]eadable and [provides] a decent overview of the subject.... But it is not original. It contains no information that could not be found in books written several years ago.... [In addition,] the book does not advance a more knowledgeable person's understanding of what happened during this period."
Temple, L. Parker, III. Shades Of Gray: National Security and the Evolution of Space Reconnaissance. Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2005.
From publisher: "American satellites can photograph terrorist bases, listen in on radio conversations, sniff out clandestine nuclear tests and spot rocket launches anywhere in the world.... Shades of Gray places development of these capabilities into their proper context with the overall U.S. space program."
On the positive side, Studies 50.1 (Mar. 2006), finds that this work "presents a detailed, well-documented, top-down look at America’s national space programs ... from 1947 to the present.... Lengthy discussions of the 'complex interactions' of various early collection systems are limited, however, by the glaring omissions of more recent SIGINT and PHOTINT systems.... For students of America’s history in space, there is much to be digested. But Shades of Gray is not easy reading, and it lacks a thematic coherence that limits its value."
Time-Life
Books. Editors. Electronic Spies - The New Face of War. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books, 1991.
Peake, AIJ 15.2, says this book covers about the same ground as Pebbles but is "more up to date and documented with fine color photographs.... Electronic Spies doesn't cite specific sources, but it does have a good bibliography. The book is clearly not intended for scholars, but it does provide an interesting introduction for the layman."
Yost,
Graham. The CIA. New York: Facts on File, 1989.
The Surveillant 1.5 reviewer finds this to a "fascinating account of the use of surveillance technology in the context of the East-West struggle." Although it is "[o]riented toward younger readers," it is still "suitable as an illustrated introduction for non-technically oriented adults."
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