Master of Disguise My Secret Life in the CIA

Tony Mendez led two lives. To his friends, he was a soft-spoken, nondescript bureaucrat working for the Department of Defense. To the leaders of the CIA, he was their master of disguise--an undisputed genius who could create an entirely new identity for anybody, anywhere, anytime. Combining the cunning tricks of a magician with the analytical insight of a psychologist, Mendez shows us how he helped hundreds of people escape potentially fatal situations.

From "Wild West" adventures in East Asia to Cold War intrigue in Moscow, Mendez was there. He earned the CIA's Intelligence Star of Valor for his role in engineering the escape of six Americans from Tehran in 1980. On the fiftieth anniversary of the CIA, he was named one of the fifty all-time stars of the spy trade, honored with the Trailblazer Award, and granted exclusive permission to tell his fascinating story--all of it.

Here he gives us a privileged look at what really happens in the field and behind closed doors at the highest level of international espionage: some of it shocking, frightening, and wildly inventive--all of it unforgettable.

Pub. Date: November 2000
Author : Antonio J. Mendez, Malcolm McConnell, Malcolm McConnell (With)
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN-13: 9780060957919
ISBN: 0060957913

Editorial Reviews - Master of Disguise - Nigel West

"A rare and unique glimpse into the CIA's Office of Technical Services, and, in particular, into the secret work undertaken to support clandestine operations. A thoroughly absorbing read for both the aficionado and the layman."

Publishers Weekly

Mendez, a 25-year CIA operative who rose to the position of "Chief of Disguise," works hard to demystify the workings of Cold War spy culture. Though he alludes romantically to the agency's work as "a domain of shadows" in his introduction, his approach to this memoir is mostly pragmatic (fans of Robert Ludlum-type spy stories should stick with fiction). Recruited in the 1960s for his skills as an artist, he worked first on forging documents of foreign governments. He then ventured into the field, creating disguises to help "exfiltrate" spies from enemy territory. Was he engaged in CIA "dirty tricks"? Mendez claims not, defending his work as part of a very real "war." Reader Hill, a longtime Brilliance veteran, manages to translate ably the sense of awe that Mendez experienced as he learned the tools of his trade. More important, he makes the events sound credible and real, aided by Mendez's clear-eyed descriptive writing style. Based on the 1999 Morrow hardcover. (Dec.)

Library Journal

On the 50th anniversary of the CIA, author Mendez was named one of the 50 all-time stars of the spy trade. He has an exceptional ability to conjure up an entirely new identity for anyone anywhere. Although he began making counterfeit identity papers, he eventually branched out, bringing techniques developed in Hollywood to espionage. His greatest feat may have been engineering the escape of the six Americans from Tehran who'd taken refuge in the Canadian Embassy during the 1980 crisis. Dick Hill reads the novel in sympathetic fashion.

Kirkus Reviews

The retired, highly decorated chief of disguise for the CIA highlights his adventurous 25-year career. Mendez is not modest about his considerable accomplishments. He takes credit for "creating and deploying many of the most innovative techniques in the espionage trade." And the remainder of this book (vetted by the agency) is, in one sense, a justification of that claim. In 1965 the author began with the agency as a low-level technician—essentially a graphic artist who specialized in forging documents. Gradually—through a combination of skill, pluck, luck, diligence, and ambition—he rose through the agency hierarchy, eventually participating in dazzling cloak-and-dagger operations in some of the world most exotic and dangerous locations: southeast Asia, the Soviet Union, Iran.

The most interesting sections describe his endeavors in the mid-1970s to generate techniques to cope with the umbrageous KGB surveillance of American operatives in Moscow and his gripping account (untold in full until now) of the CIA's role in "exfiltrating" (removing) six Americans from Tehran during the hostage crisis in 1980. Oddly, Mendez and McConnell elect to record about halfway through the book his "flawless" record of 150 successful exfiltrations; this effectively removes from his subsequent accounts of such actions all vestiges of suspense—a weird decision, to say the least. Another narrative annoyance is the decision to begin many of the subsections of the book with paragraphs that sound as if they were lifted from, well, bad spy novels.

For example: "'This guy is going south on us, fast,' the Chief of Station, `Simon,' explained, leaning over his desk and speaking with acrisp but gentle precision that was barely audible above the chugging air conditioners." Nonetheless, the coauthors convey with clarity something of this shadow world which requires of its inhabitants hard work, strong stomachs, low blood pressure, and a full measure of creative improvisation. A swift, engrossing summary of a life and a way of life. (8 pages photos, not seen) (Book-of-the-Month Club selection; author tour)

What People Are Saying

Tony is one of the officers of the Central Intelligence Agency who have dedicated their lives to the quiet service of their country. His experiences are part of the story, still mostly classified, of how the men and women of the CIA helped bring down the Berlin Wall and win the Cold War.

The story, of course, is a continuing one. Tony's colleagues and proteges are still at their quiet work, now against rogue states and terrorists, and are still making our country a safer place to live.

I am happy that Tony has been able to bring his story, and its lessons of service, to the public. -  (Porter J. Goss, Chairman of the U. S. House of Representatives' Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence)

Tony Mendez has written a spell-binding memoir of CIA secret operations and the Agency's unsung heroes of the Cold War, among whom he was one of the most imaginative and courageous. Put aside spy novels that bear no resemblance to reality - here is a gripping portrayal of the real world of intelligence operations by a man who was really there. -  (Robert M. Gates, Former Director of Central Intelligence).