Mark Stout
@markstout.bsky.social
Intelligence historian, former intelligence officer. Also live on the borderlands of military history. Former Historian at the International Spy Museum. University educator. I wish I were in Seattle. The cat is Boadicea.
This is my candidate for worst book purporting to be on military theory or history.
January 22, 2026 at 3:20 AM
This is my candidate for worst book purporting to be on military theory or history.
CIA officer Hal Ford in 1984 on the challenges facing writers of intelligence estimates. Note the comment about Henry Kissinger.
January 19, 2026 at 5:26 AM
CIA officer Hal Ford in 1984 on the challenges facing writers of intelligence estimates. Note the comment about Henry Kissinger.
A bit late, but here you go.
January 16, 2026 at 1:13 AM
A bit late, but here you go.
Confidential Not to Be Taken into Front Line Trenches. US Army, 1918.
January 13, 2026 at 5:24 AM
Confidential Not to Be Taken into Front Line Trenches. US Army, 1918.
Protest against ICE in Arlington, VA today.
January 11, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Protest against ICE in Arlington, VA today.
It seems that NOFORN didn't exist then. CIA, 1952.
January 9, 2026 at 3:25 AM
It seems that NOFORN didn't exist then. CIA, 1952.
The "Kalenda Lateral Grille” cipher from the early 1950s. US spy stuff. No, I don't understand how it works.
January 6, 2026 at 3:07 AM
The "Kalenda Lateral Grille” cipher from the early 1950s. US spy stuff. No, I don't understand how it works.
US War Department, November, 1945. This font seems vertically stretched. Look at that T; look at that C. To me they are faintly uncomfortable to gaze upon.
January 4, 2026 at 5:36 AM
US War Department, November, 1945. This font seems vertically stretched. Look at that T; look at that C. To me they are faintly uncomfortable to gaze upon.
RCMP Security Service, 1972.
January 2, 2026 at 6:01 PM
RCMP Security Service, 1972.
In 1958, the Canadians mentioned the possibility of Soviet nuclear submarines operating in Hudson Bay. I wonder if any study beyond this paragraph was ever undertaken on this. It's quite the notion.
January 2, 2026 at 2:14 AM
In 1958, the Canadians mentioned the possibility of Soviet nuclear submarines operating in Hudson Bay. I wonder if any study beyond this paragraph was ever undertaken on this. It's quite the notion.
From the British Joint Intelligence Committee in 1975.
January 2, 2026 at 12:52 AM
From the British Joint Intelligence Committee in 1975.
When I ran across interesting classification markings and caveats at the other site I used to post them. Think I'll resume that here. Here it's mostly just the purple ink that I like.
CIA, June, 1953.
CIA, June, 1953.
January 1, 2026 at 4:20 AM
When I ran across interesting classification markings and caveats at the other site I used to post them. Think I'll resume that here. Here it's mostly just the purple ink that I like.
CIA, June, 1953.
CIA, June, 1953.
Interesting form from the declassified JFK records showing the foreign police and intelligence services--not just in the UK--that the FBI legal attaché in the US embassy in London was in liaison with as of 1968.
December 11, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Interesting form from the declassified JFK records showing the foreign police and intelligence services--not just in the UK--that the FBI legal attaché in the US embassy in London was in liaison with as of 1968.
This is the book. It's available for purchase right now from your favorite bookstore. Christmas is coming up soon. It is traditional to give gifts on Christmas. ... ... ...
December 3, 2025 at 2:09 AM
This is the book. It's available for purchase right now from your favorite bookstore. Christmas is coming up soon. It is traditional to give gifts on Christmas. ... ... ...
This looks like a fun set of FBI files.
November 17, 2025 at 1:22 AM
This looks like a fun set of FBI files.
Remarkable early #ColdWar graphic from a 1948 book entitled "The East Indies Story" by "Fred Smith with numerous illustrations by Kelly Oechsli."
November 15, 2025 at 4:53 AM
Remarkable early #ColdWar graphic from a 1948 book entitled "The East Indies Story" by "Fred Smith with numerous illustrations by Kelly Oechsli."
An October 1942 FBI leaflet asking the residents of Buffalo to report any "possible violation[s] of our national security statutes" or anything suspicious to the Buffalo Field Office. It concluded, however, with the paragraph below.
Seemed relevant today somehow.
Seemed relevant today somehow.
September 8, 2025 at 12:47 AM
An October 1942 FBI leaflet asking the residents of Buffalo to report any "possible violation[s] of our national security statutes" or anything suspicious to the Buffalo Field Office. It concluded, however, with the paragraph below.
Seemed relevant today somehow.
Seemed relevant today somehow.
Say what you will about Ronald Reagan, he had better speech writers than Trump and he appreciated good rhetoric in a way that Trump couldn't even begin to comprehend.
Reagan remarks to CIA officials on June 23, 1982.
Reagan remarks to CIA officials on June 23, 1982.
August 24, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Say what you will about Ronald Reagan, he had better speech writers than Trump and he appreciated good rhetoric in a way that Trump couldn't even begin to comprehend.
Reagan remarks to CIA officials on June 23, 1982.
Reagan remarks to CIA officials on June 23, 1982.
Records at the National Archives in College Park from the Grombach organization that did espionage during WWII and the early Cold War. Grombach is writing to friend and occasional colleague Fletcher Pratt, best known as a popular military historian, writer on codes, and sci-fi/fantasy writer.
July 13, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Records at the National Archives in College Park from the Grombach organization that did espionage during WWII and the early Cold War. Grombach is writing to friend and occasional colleague Fletcher Pratt, best known as a popular military historian, writer on codes, and sci-fi/fantasy writer.
Intelligence history is a many-splendored thing.
July 13, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Intelligence history is a many-splendored thing.
Processing a large book donation to a museum I do some stuff for. I opened up a 1968 mass market novel and found this.
June 10, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Processing a large book donation to a museum I do some stuff for. I opened up a 1968 mass market novel and found this.
The crux of this Sense of the Community Memorandum is below. But the whole four and a half pages are a pretty clear and devastating, "nah, we don't think the Maduro regime is directing Tren de Aragua" we'll let you know if that changes.
May 6, 2025 at 2:49 AM
The crux of this Sense of the Community Memorandum is below. But the whole four and a half pages are a pretty clear and devastating, "nah, we don't think the Maduro regime is directing Tren de Aragua" we'll let you know if that changes.