But, be they good or bad spies, one thing is certain: there's a definite mystique and intrigue about spies and their mysterious and extremely dangerous profession that most people find vicariously fascinating.
The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. doesn't present the big screen world of spying, but the real thing, the honest-to-goodness nuts and bolts of spying. Visiting the museum is a unique opportunity to get a glimpse of the real world history of spying, and learn about the people themselves, as well as the tools they use and the craft of their trade. By the time your visit had ended, you will be impressed with how spies have influenced-and continue to influence-world events. It contains the world's largest public collection of international espionage-related artifacts. It is the first public museum in the world to recognize the role that spies have played in history and continue to undertake today. Many of the fascinating artifacts and tools of spying have never been on public display before.
Free of propaganda about whether particular spies are good or bad, this apolitical museum focuses objectively on the craft of spying itself. In exhibits on The Cold War, for example, neither the USA nor the then U.S.S.R. is portrayed any differently. The museum's Board of Directors is a virtual Who's Who of the Intelligence World, including former CIA and KGB employees. Executive Director E. Peter Earnest, for example, served with the Central Intelligence Agency for 36 years.
As you walk through this museum, each innovative display actively involves you. The displays not only educate, but entertain. From the time you entered the museum lobby, until the time you leave the Spy Museum Store, you are surrounded by ominous sounds such as people being interrogated and questioned in various languages. (What is your name? Your real name? You were never here?) Artistic lighting effects rivet your attention to state-of-the-art displays of actual spy tools from around the world. Computer interactives, film clips, photographic displays, and videos bring alive some of the most dramatic moments in spying history and let you vicariously experience them.
You start your official spying mission at the Introduction to Espionage section, where you get an overview by listening to the voices of actual spies describing the roles they undertook to accomplish their missions.
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