NONFICTION

“A comprehensive primer on how the IC operates … a must-read for all involved Americans.”

~Rob DuBois, Retired US Navy SEAL and former NSA Collector

“A rollicking ride through some of history’s espionage personalities with a particularly interesting deep dive into the Cambridge Five.”

~ Doug Patteson, Former CIA Operations Officer

A history of spy ships, lessons from epic intelligence failures, and a look at specific elements of the Cold War Era.

Historical figures who excite the imagination and battles that helped shape the modern world.

A brief, digestible timeline history of Iran from a cradle of civilization to a budding nuclear power with a special focus on the oil industry, the Iranian Hostage Crisis, and the recent international nuclear treaties.

SPYCRAFT: Essentials

What do the main intelligence agencies do and where do they operate? How do they recruit personnel? What are real life honey pots and sleeper agents? What about truth serums and enhanced interrogations? And what are the most common foibles of popular spy fiction?

With the voice of over forty years of experience in the Intelligence Community, Bayard & Holmes answer these questions and share information on espionage history, firearms of spycraft, tradecraft techniques, and the personalities and personal challenges of the men and women behind the myths.

Though crafted with advice and specific tips for writers, SPYCRAFT: Essentials is for anyone who wants to learn more about the inner workings of the Shadow World.

“From novices to experts, I suspect everyone will find something in this book that they did not know before.”
~ Doug Patteson
Film Technical Advisor and Former CIA Officer

KEY FIGURES IN ESPIONAGE

With the voice of forty-five years of experience in the Intelligence Community, Bayard & Holmes explore the lives of the espionage elite.

  • A one-legged woman operating behind Nazi lines, deemed to be “the most dangerous spy in all of France.”
  • A young man left for dead, not worth a Viet Cong bullet, who survives to fight terrorists for six more decades.
  • A homeless child who becomes an iconic showgirl, entertaining world leaders while running spy rings from the top stages of Europe.
  • A traitor operating in the innermost circles of Western intelligence whose betrayals caused the deaths of thousands.

More heroic and more treacherous than any fiction Hollywood could produce are these very real operatives of the Shadow World, who prove that “we’re only human” is not an excuse to fail, but a reason to succeed.

KEY MOMENTS IN ESPIONAGE:

Spy Ships, Intelligence Fails, & the Cold War Era

With the voice of over forty-five years of experience in the Intelligence Community, Bayard & Holmes explore key moments in the history of espionage.

•The rise of spy ships.
•How torpedo boats faced the might of the Soviet Union.
•A blow-by-blow of the USS Liberty incident.
•The North Korean capture of the USS Pueblo and her crew.
•Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and the failed Operation Barbarossa.
•The South’s fatal miscalculation.
•The greatest US intelligence failure of all time.
•Andrei Tupolev and the explosion of the Konkordski.
•The U-2 incident and the capture of Gary Powers.
•The rise and fall of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra.
•How China spanked Vietnam.
•Vladimir Putin, the living legacy of the Cold War.

KEY PEOPLE AND WARS

With the voice of forty-five years in the Intelligence Community, Bayard & Holmes explore the lives of key people and the events of key wars.

– The first black man to graduate West Point–in 1877
– The American who would be King of Mexico
– The founder of modern special operations
– The man who taught the FBI to shoot
– The Bravest of the Battle of Britain
– The rise and fall of Japanese militarism
– The Ottomans vs. Vienna–twice
– The Mexican/American War
– The Scream Heard Round the World and the Battle of Manila
– The Opium Wars and British drug pushers in China
– The Boer Wars
– The Battle of Verdun
– An intelligence perspective on Benghazi
– The Battle of Fallujah

People who excite the imagination and battles that shaped the modern world.

TIMELINE IRAN: Stone Age to Nuclear Age

With the voice of forty-five years of experience in the Intelligence Community, Bayard & Holmes journey through Iran’s history to define the challenges that face Western nations today.

A cradle of civilization, Iran has been a political hot spot not just for decades, but for eons. Now, the urgent issue for Western nations is the extent of Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Is Iran developing an atomic bomb? If so, should we do something to stop it? Who is “we,” and precisely what would “something” be? How much would “something” cost, and to whom?

This brief, digestible timeline for both amateurs and experts is the perfect start to understanding the dynamics at play in these urgent questions.