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Archived article from Sep 8, 2003
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Professor brings scholarship to the public via "Idiot's Guides"
Rodney Carlisle received a call from his literary agent in early 2001. Alpha Books, publisher of the well-known "Idiot's Guides," had been impressed with his book "The Encyclopedia to the Atomic Age" and wanted to know if he'd like to write an "Idiot's Guide to Communism." The hitch: He had six months to do it.
Carlisle, professor emeritus of history at Rutgers–Camden, was intrigued, but Communism wasn't his specialty. So he asked James Lide, director of the international division of History Associates (of which Carlisle is the co-founder) to be his co-author. Six months later, Alpha published "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Communism," a 343-page primer on the ideology of one of the most powerful movements of the 20th century.
"We loved the book," says Randy Ladenheim-Gil, an acquisitions editor at Alpha Books, who asked Carlisle if he had other ideas." He did: Carlisle had taught a course on modern espionage in Camden for 10 years. It was a match. "Military books had become a big category for us," says Ladenheim-Gil. "And spies are sexy. Everyone's intrigued with them."
Carlisle had much to draw on, including years of lecture notes, a library of 300 monographs, and dozens of books on individual spies and covert operations. "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Spies and Espionage" hit the stores in March 2003, selling nearly 4,000 copies its first month. It is heading toward a second 10,000-print run.
The book covers the sweep of 20th-century espionage, including information on spies such as the Rosenbergs, Alger Hiss and Robert Hanssen; details on gadgets from code-breaking machines to surveillance satellites; and tactics used by British, Russian and American intelligence agencies. Carlisle examines the spy trade in the post 9/11 world, as well.
Does Carlisle have any compunction authoring for idiots? Emphatically, no. "As academics we often end up writing for each other," he says. "I think the mission of the professorate should be broader-based, extending to educating the general public as to what's being done in serious scholarship."
Carlisle uses the affinity that people have for espionage to present serious aspects of the topic: conflicts between civil liberties and national security, and how to utilize covert action during wartime. "There's an awful lot of romance and fiction associated with espionage," Carlisle says. "The reality is exciting enough."
Indeed, Carlisle has developed something of a following: A few fans, aside from his students, turned out this summer for his lecture at Barnes & Noble's "Cappuccino Academy," where he sold about 20 books. He often gets asked if he has a favorite spy. He does: Cicero, a valet to the British ambassador in Turkey, who filched top secrets and sold them to the Nazis. (Cicero's story was made into a movie, "Five Fingers," with James Mason in the central spy role.)
Another favorite query: What country has the best spies? Since the 1960s, Carlisle says, the U.S. has had the most sophisticated technical intelligence in satellite imagery and electronic surveillance. "The Soviets excelled at recruiting, but they are awful at using the information. The leadership doesn't like to be surprised," he says. For example, "Soviet intelligence had sources telling them that the Germans were about to invade, but Stalin refused to believe it."
Carlisle writes 10-15 pages a day, spending the rest of the time editing and fact-checking. He finds the format of the guides, which includes sidebars, boxes and definitions, a convenient tool for breaking up narrative. Writing for consumers is a different experience from academic publishing, he says. For one, the consumer market is more lucrative, and, he says, "the editors tend to be more responsive and easier to contact than the academic press editors with whom I've worked."
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