A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy (Class of 1966), H. Keith Melton is an intelligence historian, and specialist in clandestine technology, and espionage "tradecraft." Recognized internationally as an authority on spy technology, Mr. Melton has assembled an unparalleled collection of over 8,000 spy devices, books, and papers of eminent spies. He is the author of several highly respected books, CIA Special Weapons and Equipment (1994), OSS Special Weapons and Equipment (1992), Clandestine Warfare (1988), and The Ultimate Spy Book (1996). The Ultimate Spy Book, expanded and updated in 2003, has been re-released as Ultimate Spy and remains one of the largest selling reference books on espionage of the last ten years with more than 300,000 copies in print worldwide. It is currently used as an introductory manual for many newly hired employees embarking on intelligence careers. In 2002 he joined a project with Scholastic Publications to co-author 15 children's books on espionage that has just been released under the imprint of Spy University. He has co-authored the "Spies Guide to Office Espionage" that was published by Quirk Publications in the fall of 2003 and in 2004 completed 13 additional children's books for Scholastic's new series Detective Academy. His current book, Spycraft, a history of the CIA's Office of Technical Service (OTS) was published by Dutton on May 29, 2008.
Mr. Melton is also a member of the board of directors for the new International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., and director of a private museum (The Spy Museum) in Boca Raton, Florida. The majority of the artifacts on display in the International Spy Museum originated from his personal collection. He was an editor-at-large and columnist for the intelligence quarterly Surveillant, and has worked for more than 25 years as a historical consultant within the US intelligence community. He serves as a guest lecturer at the Defense Intelligence College, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Joint Military Intelligence College, National Security Agency, NCIX, and National Counter-Intelligence Center (CIA) and is an ongoing adviser to other U.S. intelligence agencies. Since 2002 he has lectured at the Smithsonian as part of their distinguished lecturer series. He has made numerous radio and television appearances, on all of the major networks including BBC, CNBC, MSNBC, FOX News, and CNN. He is currently an adjunct professor and Tradecraft Historian at The Interagency Training Center where he lectures on the craft of espionage.
More than five hundred devices from Melton's private museum are on permanent display as the foundation for the CIA's Cold War Museum at their headquarters outside Washington, DC, and in 2002 he contributed a major portion of his OSS collection to found their internal OSS Museum inside CIA. In September of 1997, President Clinton, CIA Director George Tenet and Mr. Melton officially opened the exhibit to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of CIA. Senior CIA officials have called his amazing collection of espionage devices "a national treasure".
