Deep Black; Space Espionage and National Security

New York: Random House, 1986. Second Printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xxi, [5] , 401, [5] pages. Illustrations. Footnotes. Glossary. Notes. Sources. Index. DJ has minor wear and soiling and front flap creased. Jump to search William E. Burrows is an American author and journalism professor emeritus. He worked as a reporter for newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, and The Wall Street Journal. Burrows specializes in space and national security issues; he published Deep Black, a seminal work on reconnaissance and espionage in 1986. Burrows was the only non-scientist on the National Research Council's Near-Earth Object Survey and Detection Panel. In recognition of his distinguished career and expertise, a Main Belt asteroid has been named after him, and he is a recipient of the American Astronautical Society John F. Kennedy Astronautics Award, among other honors. Derived from a Kirkus review: A detailed history of America's space espionage program from its earliest days to the present, with a look to the future. In detailing this secretive area, Burrows concentrates upon the problems and intrigue, particularly the continual battle between the Air Force and the CIA for control of the systems. Burrows quotes Air Force generals who have concluded from space photography that the Soviets are prepared for all-out nuclear war, based upon a vast network of underground command centers that they estimate cost the Soviets some 500 billion American dollars. Burrows tells of space satellites so sophisticated that they can eavesdrop on telephone conversations from 22,300 miles out in space. He describes real-time imaging that allows for instant transmittal of satellite photos. Burrows describes the "ferret" satellite, Jumpseat, journeying over Siberia, recording ""the pulse of the very radars that look silently up at it, meticulously tracking its course as it sails far above them. ... That is the nature of space reconnaissance."" Riveting reading of the here and now and of the shape of things to come.