Once a top-secret training manual for CIA field agents in the early Cold War era of the 1950s, we are happy to offer The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception. An amazing historical artifact, this eye-opening handbook offers step-by-step instructions for covert intelligence operatives in all manner of sleight of hand and trickery that was designed to thwart the Communist enemy.

On June 15, 1917, just after the United States entered World War I, Congress adopted the Espionage Act.

The Espionage Act gave the federal government increased leverage to prosecute what it considered unruly elements. Based on the terms dictated by Congress, anyone who interfered with or attempted to undermine the United States’ war effort could be prosecuted under the law and face a 20-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine.

Thanks to the convenient wording of the act, those who protested against newly introduced conscription, or against the war itself, became prime subjects for prosecution.

The Espionage Act is still in effect today. Most notably, in 2013, former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was charged with espionage after he leaked confidential information concerning U.S. Government surveillance programs.