MNW168 :: ROBERT WALLACE

The Magic Newswire

Bob Wallace, retired CIA Director of the Department of Technical Services is one of the co-authors of the new book,The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception. In 1953, against the backdrop of the Cold War, the CIA initiated a top-secret program, code-named MKULTRA, to counter Soviet mind-control and interrogation techniques. Realizing that clandestine officers might need to covertly deploy newly developed pills, potions, and powders against the adversary, the CIA hired America's most famous magician, John Mulholland, to write two manuals on sleight of hand and undercover communication techniques. In 1973, virtually all documents related to MKULTRA were destroyed. Mulholland's manuals were thought to be among themuntil a single surviving copy of each, complete with illustrations, was recently discovered in the agency's archives. The manuals reprinted in this work represent the only known complete copy of Mulholland's instructions for CIA officers on the magician's art of deception and secret communication. Bob joins me on the podcast to talk about the book that Lance Burton describes as, "A legendary lost piece of magic history. It's James Bond meets Harry Houdini!"