About
Dr. Edward Mickolus, after leaving Yale University with a PhD before anyone knew one was missing, served in analytical, operational, management, and staff positions at CIA for 33 years, where he
• was CIA’s first full-time analyst on international terrorism;
• analyzed African political, economic, social, military, and leadership issues;
• wrote political-psychological assessments of world leaders;
• managed collection, counterintelligence, and covert action programs
• served as senior briefer for visitors to the Agency
• wrote the Agency’s internal newsletter
• interviewed applicants.
In retirement, he taught at CIA, the FBI Academy, ODNI, and numerous universities.
His 50 books include a series of two dozen multi-volume chronologies and biographies on international terrorism and ten volumes on intelligence issues.
Books include:
General/Humor
• with William Wildey Trivia Matters: A Trivia Host Sourcebook
• The Secret Book of CIA Humor
• The Secret Book of Intelligence Community Humor
• Two Spies Walk Into a Bar America’s
• Funniest Memes: Coronavirus Edition
• More Funny Covid Memes
• with Joseph Rendon Take My Weight… Please!
• with Harlan Rector I Matter: Finding Meaning in Your Life at Any Age, Volume 1
• with Harlan Rector I Matter Too: Finding Meaning in Your Life at Any Age, Volume 2
• with Harlan Rector I Still Matter: Finding Meaning in Your Life at Any Age, Volume 3
• His Words: Inspirational Quotations from Jesus Christ
• with Joseph T. Brannan Coaching Winning Model United Nations Teams
• Food with Thought: The Wit and Wisdom of Chinese Fortune Cookies
• with T.S. Tripp White Noise Whispers
Intelligence
• Spycraft for Thriller Writers: How to Write Spy Novels, TV Shows and Movies Accurately and Not Be Laughed at by Real-Life Spies
• Stories from Langley: A Glimpse Inside the CIA
• More Stories From Langley: Another Glimpse Inside the CIA
• Briefing for the Boardroom and the Situation Room
• The Counterintelligence Chronology: Spying by and Against the United States from the 1700s through 2014
Terrorism
• Terrorist Events Worldwide 2022
• Terrorist Events Worldwide 2021
• Terrorist Events Worldwide 2019-2020
• Terrorism Worldwide, 2018
• Terrorism Worldwide, 2017
• Terrorism Worldwide, 2016
• Terrorism 2013-2015: A Worldwide Chronology
• Terrorism 2008-2012: A Worldwide Chronology Terrorism, 2005-2007
• with Susan L. Simmons Terrorism, 2002-2004: A Chronology, 3 volumes
• with Susan L. Simmons Terrorism, 1996-2001: A Chronology of Events and a Selectively Annotated Bibliography, 2 volumes
• with Susan L. Simmons Terrorism, 1992-1995: A Chronology of Events and a Selectively Annotated Bibliography
• Terrorism, 1988-1991: A Chronology of Events and a Selectively Annotated Bibliography
• with Todd Sandler and Jean Murdock International Terrorism in the 1980s: A Chronology, Volume 2: 1984-1987
• with Todd Sandler and Jean Murdock International Terrorism in the 1980s: A Chronology, Volume 1: 1980-1983
• with Peter Flemming Terrorism, 1980-1987: A Selectively Annotated Bibliography
• International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events, 1968-1977, ITERATE 2 Data Codebook
• with Susan L. Simmons The 50 Worst Terrorist Attacks
• with Susan L. Simmons The Terrorist List: North America
• with Susan L. Simmons The Terrorist List: South America
• with Susan L. Simmons The Terrorist List: Eastern Europe
• with Susan L. Simmons The Terrorist List: Western Europe
• with Susan L. Simmons The Terrorist List: Asia, Pacific, and Sub-Saharan Africa
• The Terrorist List: The Middle East, 2 volumes
• The Literature of Terrorism: A Selectively Annotated Bibliography
• Transnational Terrorism: A Chronology of Events, 1968-1979
• ITERATE: International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events, Data Codebook
• Combatting International Terrorism: A Quantitative Analysis
Still to Come:
• Terrorist Events Worldwide, 2023
• Terrorist Events Worldwide, 2024
All the Presidents' Heroes: Inspirational Stories of State of the Union Honorees
• Stories by the Side of the Road
• with Scott M. Baker, Clint Collins, Gene Coyle, Tony Jordan, James Lawler, Clint Mesle, Susan Ouellette, Valerie Plame, Bill Rapp, Julie Savell, Janice Sebring, J.R. Seeger, Paula T. Weiss, Terry Williams, and Scott Woodward Naked Came the Spy
• Moscow Syndrome (with a dozen more Agency novelists)
Featured Work
Stories from Langley
Applicants to the Central Intelligence Agency often asked Edward Mickolus what they might expect in a career there. Mickolus, a former CIA intelligence officer whose duties also included recruiting and public affairs, never had a simple answer. If applicants were considering a life in the National Clandestine Service, the answer was easy. Numerous memoirs show the lives of operations officers collecting secret intelligence overseas, conducting counterintelligence investigations, and running covert action programs. But the CIA isn’t only about case officers in far-flung areas of the world, recruiting spies to steal secrets. For an applicant considering a career as an analyst, a support officer, a scientist, or even a secretary, few sources provide reliable insight into what a more typical career at the CIA might look like.
This collection of the exploits and insights of twenty-nine everyday agency employees is Mickolus’s answer. From individuals who have served at the highest levels of the agency to young officers just beginning their careers, Stories from Langley reveals the breadth of career opportunities available at the CIA and offers advice from agency officers themselves.
