Historical Collection Publications
The Historical Review Program, part of the CIA Information Management Services, identifies, collects and produces historically relevant collections of declassified documents. These collections, centered on a theme or event and with supporting analysis, essays, video, audio, and photographs, are showcased in a booklet and DVD that are available to the academic realm and the public.
Intelligence Community History
The Typists to Trailblazers collection is comprised of some 120 declassified documents—most of which are being released publicly for the first time—provide insight into the conversation at CIA about efforts to examine and address the status of female employees from 1947 to today. ." alt="From Typist to Trailblazer">
This collection highlights the CIA's first four DCIs. The documents, covering 1946 to 1953, focus on the activities of DCIs: Sidney W. Souers, Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter and Walter B. Smith, and include office logs, memorandums, reports and various correspondence from each DCI's tenure." alt="intel-policy-politics-cover.jpg">
This collection of material by and about Richard Helms as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and Ambassador to Iran comprises the largest single release of Helms-related information to date. The documents, historical works, essays, interviews, photographs, and video offer an unprecedented wide-ranging look at the man and his career as the United States’ top intelligence official and one of its most important diplomats during a crucial decade of the Cold War." alt="">
The Office of Scientific Intelligence was created in 1949, driven by the concerns of technological surprise in nuclear weapons, biological warfare, and guided missiles. It was one of the longest-standing offices in the Directorate of Intelligence – more than 31 years. This collection provides a glimpse of the CIA’s overall contributions to science and technology during the Cold War." alt="">
International Relations
This collection consists of more than 250 previously classified documents, totaling over 1,400 pages, including some 150 that are being released for the first time. These documents cover the period from January 1977 through March 1979 and were produced by the CIA to support the Carter administration’s diplomatic efforts leading up to President Carter’s negotiations with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David in September 1978." alt="Carter.jpg">
This collection consists of more than 300 declassified documents related to the Director of Central Intelligence Interagency Balkan Task Force (BTF) and the role of intelligence in supporting policymaking during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War." alt="Bosnia.jpg">
In contrast to the intelligence community’s streams of formal assessments on the Soviet Union and China, the less formal and uncoordinated CAESAR, POLO, and ESAU studies were not intended as "finished" intelligence products. Rather, the authors sought to develop a comprehensive knowledge base on select political issues that could contribute to analytic capital for specialists throughout the community." alt="CPE-cover.jpg">
The collection highlights some of the most closely guarded activities of the CIA. These histories are normally not released in any form to the public. Excerpts from the CIA’s Clandestine Services Histories of Civil Air Transport were written by Alfred T. Cox. Mr. Cox became the President of CAT after its acquisition by the CIA. He guided the covert and commercial operations." alt="">
This collection covers the period of 1945 to the end of 1961. The wealth of documents, videos, and photographs show Berlin’s journey from a battered post war region occupied by the Allies to a city literally divided - with its western half becoming an island of freedom surrounded by a sea of Communist repression." alt="">
Stories of Sacrifice and Dedication: Civil Air Transport, Air America, and the CIA examines two unique stories that exemplify the sacrifice and dedication that the CIA inspires in its officers: Lima Site 85 – a covert radar site in Laos, and a CAT flight to recover an agent inside Communist China. " alt="">
Air America: Upholding the Airmen’s Bond examines the cost of flying in hazardous environments, resulting in the need for rescue capability, not just for Air America flights, but all US military flights over Laos and Vietnam. In their flying community, it was enough to know that a downed aviator was in trouble and that airmen should always come to the aid of other airmen. It was simply the Airmen’s Bond." alt="">
The Korean War erupted less than three years after President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, establishing the Central Intelligence Agency. Before North Korean forces invaded the South in 1950, the CIA had only a few officers in Korea. None of them reported to the Office of Research and Estimates (ORE). Analytical production relating to Korea reflected the generally low priority given the region by the Truman Administration’s State Department and the military services. Unique CIA contributions rarely entered the mix." alt="">
This collection highlights the causes and consequences of US Intelligence Community’s (IC) failure to foresee the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War, also known as the October War or the Yom Kippur War. A coalition of Arab nations led by Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 6, the day of Yom Kippur." alt="nixon arab israeli war cover.jpg">
Ronald Reagan became the 40th president of the United States more than thirty years ago, and ever since he stepped down to return to California eight years later, historians, political scientists, and pundits of all stripes have debated the meaning of his presidency. The old view of Reagan as a great communicator, but one without substance, is marked by the continually improving regard historians have for him." alt="">
Cold War Topics
The Soviet Union established itself as a threat to the West at the end of World War II by its military occupation of eastern European countries and the attempts of its armed proxies to capture Greece and South Korea. The West countered with the formation of NATO. This study continues CIA’s efforts to provide a detailed record of the intelligence derived from clandestine human and technical sources from that period." alt="Warsaw Pact Forces">
In the mid-1950s the US faced the first real challenge since World War II to its strategic superiority over any nation on earth. The attempt to collect intelligence on the Soviets began with an initial period of poor collection capabilities and consequent limited analysis. Breakthroughs occurred in gaining valuable, game-changing intelligence from the U-2 aircraft and the Corona Satellite reconnaissance program." alt="">
The collapse of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe, and the subsequent disintegration of the Soviet Union opened immense opportunities for archival research. As a result, scholars have been able to explore many aspects of the Warsaw Pact, including questions of military planning, force preparations and operations, nuclear command arrangements, and civil-military issues." alt="">
Soviet military planning for conflict in Europe after World War II from the outset harnessed East European military capabilities to Soviet military purposes and assumed operational subordination of East European military formations to higher-level Soviet commands. Following the founding of the Warsaw Treaty Organization (Warsaw Pact) in May 1955, a supreme Warsaw Pact military command was established in Moscow, but this institution existed largely on paper until the 1960s." alt="">
In 1972, Ryszard Kuklinski, a senior officer on the Polish General Staff, volunteered his services to the United States at a time of increased friction between the Soviet Bloc and the Free World. During the Polish crisis, from the initial outbreak of labor unrest in July 1980, until the declaration of martial law in December 1981, Col. Kuklinski provided reporting and commentary on the chaotic progression of events." alt="martial-law-cover.jpg">
The Czechoslovak crisis, as it became known, started in January 1968. The communist leadership embarked on a program of dramatic liberalization of the Czechoslovak political, economic, and social order. The crisis lasted more than a year and consisted of Czech reforms which triggered Soviet statements of concern and eventual threats." alt="">
The Trieste II (DSV-1), the Navy’s most advanced deep sea submersible at the time, surfaced about 350 miles north of the Hawaiian Islands in the pre-dawn hours of 26 April 1972 after recovering a mysterious item. Publicly called a “data package,” the object was actually part of a US spy satellite, codenamed HEXAGON. This release includes photos and an article recounting the deepest undersea salvage then attempted." alt="underwatericestation.jpg">
Hardcopy publications are available to the public through the Government Printing Office [external link disclaimer]. There is an associated cost for the publications on the GPO site.
Posted: Jun 03, 2011 12:34 PM
Last Updated: Nov 13, 2013 11:44 AM