Secrets on Display

Intelligence history comes alive in this delightful collection of stories and photographs.

Secrets on Display takes readers on a tour of the thrilling, real-life history of intelligence and espionage from around the world. With tales of spies, codebreakers, moles, terrorist-hunters, spy chiefs, propagandists, and secret agents, these new histories uncover a world that many of us only see in the movies. Bringing together stories and artifacts from the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, this book makes the world’s largest museum devoted to intelligence history accessible to everyone.

Secrets on Display brings this hidden history to life with over 200 photographs, including nearly 100 color images of artifacts—among them, James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5, the axe used to assassinate Leon Trotsky, a portion of the secret MI6 and CIA tunnel beneath East Berlin, and a precursor to the Predator drone, as well as concealment devices, secret cameras, disguise kits, cipher machines, and a host of other rare objects seldom seen by the public.

These stories, told by historians, intelligence officers, and museum professionals, will fascinate scholars, intrigue practitioners, and entice those interested in a world of secrecy that most of us can scarcely imagine.