Spy Tools of the Cold War & Beyond

Spying is a dangerous business. Whether "the operative" is an international man of mystery, a private dick, or a crack-shot G-man (like the fellow in this time-lapse photo), the job often demands the most advanced data-gathering tools available. Today's technology, of course, allows nations and agencies to undertake spying from afar—literally, in some cases, from space—but in the depths of the Cold War, and in the early days of private eyes, spy gadgets required a high degree of hands-on finesse from the man or woman in the field. A dangerous business, indeed ...