num_pages: 302
description: The International Spy Museum's Historian takes us on a wild tour of missions and schemes that almost happened but were ultimately deemed too dangerous expensive ahead of their time or even certifiably insaneIn 1958 the U.S. Air Force nuked the moon as a show of military force. In 1967 the CIA sent live cats to spy on the Soviet government. In 1942 the British built a torpedo-proof aircraft carrier out of an iceberg. Of course none of these things ever actually happened.But in Nuking the Moon intelligence historian Vince Houghton proves that abandoned plans can be just as illuminating--and every bit as entertaining--as the ones that made it. Vividly capturing the fascinating stories of how twenty-one plans from WWII and the Cold War went from conception planning and testing to cancellation Houghton explores what happens when innovation meets desperation: For every plan as good as D-Day there's a scheme to strap bombs to bats or dig a spy tunnel underneath the Soviet embassy. Along the way he reveals what each one tells us about twentieth-century history the art of spycraft military strategy and famous figures like JFK Castro and Churchill. By turns terrifying and hilarious--but always riveting--this is the unique story of history left on the drawing board.
language: English
title: Nuking the Moon: And Other Intelligence Schemes and Military Plots Left on the Drawing Board
publisher: Penguin Books