NOVA Online | Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies

20 curious facts about secrets, lies, and atomic spies

NSA Venona Home page
http://www.nsa.gov/venona/
Since July 1995 documents related to the Venona Project have been available to the public. Browse monographs, photographs, and other remembrances at this exhaustive National Security Agency Web site.

National Cryptologic Museum
http://www.nsa.gov/museum/
The National Cryptologic Museum in Washington, D.C. presents sneak previews of its fascinating exhibits online. See photographs of enciphering and deciphering tools through the ages, learn about Civil War-era spies, and visit the decoder hall of fame.

FBI Famous Cases
http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/famcases.htm
The FBI's Office of Public and Congressional Affairs offers monographs on some of its most infamous espionage cases dating back nearly a century. See photographs of convicted spies and read about the FBI investigations that led to their capture.

National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)
http://www.nro.gov/
The NRO designs, builds, and operates United States reconnaissance satellites, which transmit intelligence to the CIA and the Department of Defense. Learn more about this high-tech global form of spying at this informative Web site.

National Counterintelligence Center (NACIC)
http://www.ncix.gov/
The NACIC coordinates the U.S. government's effort to identify and counter foreign intelligence threats to U.S. national and economic security. At the NACIC Web site, browse international intelligence resources and learn more about what the center does.

The National Security Archive
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
The Freedom of Information Act paved the way for a group of journalists and scholars to set up the National Security Archive at George Washington University almost 20 years ago. The archive's two million pages of declassified material have been scanned and made available for perusing online.

Cold War International History Project
http://cwihp.si.edu/
The Web site of the Cold War International History Project attempts to bring together a wide range of information related to Cold War history under one virtual roof. The site includes a section devoted to Cold War espionage.

CNN - Cold War Experience
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/experience/spies/
On this site, CNN explores Cold War espionage with interviews, images, book excerpts, and interactive games.

The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America by Allen Weinstein and Alexander Vassiliev. New York: Modern Library, 2000.
This volume details the Soviet infiltration of the American government in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. Written by an American author and a former KGB agent, The Haunted Wood is a chilling read.

Venona: Decoding Soviet Espionage in America by Harvey Klehr and John Earl Haynes. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
Klehr and Haynes provide an explanation of American efforts in the decryption of the Soviet secret code. Examined also are some of the foremost Americans spying for the Soviet Union, such as State Department official Alger Hiss and Harry White, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in FDR's administration.

Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II by Stephen Budiansky. New York: The Free Press, 2000
Marked by compelling anecdotes and a lively writing style, this thoroughly researched book is the best introduction to the codebreaking that took place within Venona.

Spy Book: The Encyclopedia of Espionage by Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen. New York: Random House, 1998.
With more than 2,000 entries on the agents, agencies, terminology, and techniques of espionage, this volume contains information on almost every spy, from the obscure to the infamous.

Espionage: The Greatest Spy Operations of the Twentieth Century by Ernest Volkman. London: John Wiley, 1996.
Twenty-two chapters, with titles such as "Long Island Calling Hamburg" and "The Hollow Tennis Racket," describe the most prominent—and often most daring—spy operations of the past 100 years. In addition to tales of espionage are a glossary of terms and a list of intelligence agencies worldwide.

Bombshell: The Secret Story of America's Unknown Atomic Spy Conspiracy by Joseph Albright and Marcia Kunstel. New York: Random House, 1997.
An engaging examination into the spy career of Ted Hall, the Los Alamos physicist who passed atomic secrets to the Soviets during and after World War II. The authors, both Moscow-based journalists, argue that the amount of information Hall leaked far exceeded that which the Rosenbergs provided the Communists.

Lou Benson, National Security Agency
John Earl Haynes, Library of Congress
Jane Hudgins, National Security Agency
Tug Yourgrau, producer, "Secrets, Lies, and Atomic Spies," Powderhouse Productions

Lauren Aguirre, Executive Editor
Rick Groleau, Managing Editor
Brenden Kootsey, Senior Web Developer
Lexi Krock, Editorial Assistant
Peter Tyson, Editor in Chief
Anya Vinokour, Senior Designer

Family of Spies—All stills and video clips courtesy of WGBH/NOVA and Powderhouse Productions

Read Venona Intercepts—Photos: (introduction page) WGBH/NOVA and Powderhouse Productions; (February 9, 1944 cable) Courtesy of the National Security Agency; (Klaus Fuchs) Corbis/Bettman (Harry Gold) Corbis/Bettman; (September 21, 1944 cable) Courtesy of the National Security Agency; (The Rosenbergs) Corbis/Bettman; (The Greenglasses) Corbis/Bettman; (November 12, 1944 cable) Courtesy of the National Security Agency; (Theodore Alvin Hall and Saville Sax) Courtesy of The National Security Agency; (The November 14, 1944 cable) Courtesy of the National Security Agency; (Joel Barr) Corbis/Bettman; (Alfred Sarant) Corbis/Bettman

Compiled by Lexi Krock

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