In times of peace or war, Washington, D.C. is the spy capital of the world. The original spymaster George Washington, whose home was in nearby Mt. Vernon, started it all when he had false information planted in British pouches and used disappearing ink to instruct his agents. Since then, the capital has been a hotbed of espionage, chock full of all the targets of any self-respecting spy—the CIA, the FBI, the Pentagon, NSA, and more. Diplomats, politicians, generals, scholars, secretaries and clerks, mistresses and wives have lied, contrived, connived, denied, cheated, blackmailed, seduced and betrayed each other here, right up to the current war on terrorism.

Pamela Kessler, a former Washington Post reporter and an expert on the local espionage scene, takes readers on a guided tour through D.C. and nearby Virginia and Maryland to more than 70 dropsites, safehouses, graveyards, mansions, museums, secure government offices and restaurant rendezvous where the spy game has been played. Kessler reveals the tales behind each featured site and offers more than 60 photographs of secret agents and the hangouts where they lived, worked, loved and sometimes died gruesome deaths.

Lurk through Maryland, sneak through Virginia, and hide in Washington as you visit such places as:

- Hotel George—the Washington hotel where the only Soviet general to survive Stalin’s blood purge of Red Army officers died a mysterious death.

- Mailbox at the corner of 37th and R Streets N.W.—where Aldrich Ames, who worked for the KGB while serving as the CIA’s chief of Soviet counterintelligence, signaled his handler he was ready to make a drop.

- The Exchange—the D.C. restaurant where KGB mole Karl Koecher and his wife Hana met with a swinging couples group for exchange of wives and government secrets.

- Foxstone Park—where “Doctor Death” Robert Hanssen dropped his last documents, just before his fellow FBI agents arrested him.

- The Georgetown mansion where “Wild Bill” Donovan, founder of the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA, held secret meetings during World War II.

- Au Pied de Cochon—the Georgetown café where Soviet defector Vitaly Yurchenko had his last meal before redefecting.

- The Northwest Washington home where Soviet spy Kim Philby lived while serving as First Secretary of the British Embassy.

- FBI Headquarters—a preview of the redesigned tour that attracts half a million visitors a year.

- National Cryptologic Museum—a former motel in Fort Meade, Maryland, where visitors now can learn the history of American signals intelligence and cryptology and find the largest public collection of Enigma machines.

- The Willard Hotel—where Lafayette C. Baker, the infamous counterespionage officer in the Civil War, was recruited.

- Congressional Country Club—the training place in Potomac, Maryland, for OSS agents to be parachuted behind enemy lines in World War II.

Pamela Kessler, a former Washington Post reporter, has been interviewed about espionage lore on Fox Morning News, the Travel Channel and A&E, and in magazines and newspapers. She lectures frequently on the subject at the National Archives and in local libraries, as well as to such groups as the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, the Old Crows (National Security Agency), and the American Political Science Association. She has an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University in the Writing Seminars. Kessler lives in Potomac, Maryland with her husband, New York Times bestselling author Ronald Kessler.

"...an engaging book that spotlights dozens of nefarious locations around the DC area such as the swingers' club downtown where a married KGB couple met high-level conquests to later blackmail."
  -- Marc Silverstein, DC Style, March 2006

"‘Undercover Washington,’ a look at the local spy scene by former Washington Post reporter and espionage expert Pamela Kessler"

"Learn about the life of a spy and follow some of history’s most infamous espionage agents in their travels and exploits around Washington, D.C."

"More spies come to Washington than any other city in the world-and surreptitious as they may be, they still leave their mark. Nobody knows the secret sites of Washington spy life better than Pamela Kessler. Her newly revised guide to the spots where spies lived, loved, and sometimes died is hot off the press, and Kessler will reveal her favorites-from Foxstone Park to the Hotel George. If you appreciate the art of dead drops, brush contacts, decrypts, and disinformation and want to know where they happened, when, and why, join us for this inside look at the spy capital, Washington, DC."

"A fine guide to the homes and hangouts of Washington’s spies."
  -- John Miller, National Review, August 2005

"‘Undercover Washington’ by former Washington Post reporter Pamela Kessler takes readers on a guided tour of the spy capital of the world."   -- Brittany Boyd, Loudoun Friday Times, August 2005

"In her new book out this summer, Washington author and espionage connoisseur Pamela Kessler identifies more than 70 drop sites, rendezvous sites, safe houses and secure government meeting places in and around the nation's capital where the spy game is played....As a summary of ‘Undercover Washington’ describes, diplomats, politicians, generals, scholars, secretaries, clerks, mistresses and wives have lied, contrived, connived, denied, cheated, blackmailed, seduced and betrayed -- and right under our noses."   -- John McCaslin, “Inside the Beltway", The Washington Times, August 2005

"Kessler, a former Washington Post reporter, knows the regional espionage landscape and takes the reader on a guided tour of drops, safehouses, graveyards, mansions, museums, secure government offices and restaurants used for rendezvous in the Washington area....This is an ideal gift or personal reference manual."   -- Derk Kinnane Roelofsma, AFIO’s Weekly Intelligence Notes, August 2005

"A fascinating tour guide to the homes and rendezvous points of Washington's most famous spies....Most of this information can't be found in the conventional guides to D.C….But with ‘Undercover Washington’ in hand, readers will learn quite a bit - and have great stories to tell."   -- John Miller, Washington Examiner, July 2005

"Must Read"

"A fascinating book...An intriguing look into the often secret world of spies."   -- John Clayton, “Travel with a Difference", KNX 1070 (California), June 2005

"Daily Book Pick" on Jim Agnew’s website www.jagnew.com
"An intriguing guide to the offbeat places in DC, Virginia and Maryland where famous spies lived and worked in the spy capital of the world."   -- Jim Agnew, www.jagnew.com, June 2005

"Washington is a city full of secrets, so this guide seems like the perfect combination of subject matter and place. The International Spy Museum and the FBI headquarters probably are the most open secret places. Otherwise, though, you're going to have to dig a little to find what you're looking for. This guide will help."   -- June Sawyer, “The Resourceful Traveler", Chicago Tribune, June 2005

"Pamela Kessler, a former Washington Post reporter, has written a delightful, offbeat guide to the Capital, "Undercover Washington" that spotlights the many places where spies did their dirty work from the days of the Civil War to the Cold War....If you are an espionage buff, this book will take you on a tour of the Capital like no other."   -- Alan Caruba, Bookviews.com, June 2005

"If...you appreciate the covert art of dead drops, brush contacts, decrypts, and disinformation, then Kessler’s 'Undercover Washington' will prove to be a real page-turner."

"When it comes to where the spies are, there aren't many people who know more about the underside of the city of spies than Pam Kessler. Her book, 'Undercover Washington,' is like a treasure map for the visiting spy hunter."
--City of Spies, The Travel Channel

"You really will never understand spies until you've walked in their footsteps, and Pam Kessler takes you on that journey in this brilliantly written book."
--John L. Martin, the Justice Department's former top spy prosecutor

"Fact-filled, rich in illustrations, and penned in her breezy style, Pam Kessler's tour of the spy capital is a fun and engaging way to delve into real spies and their skullduggery."
--Peter Earnest, executive director of the International Spy Museum and former CIA intelligence officer

Introduction
District of Columbia--Georgetown
A Wilderness of Mirrors
The Big Dump
What’s a Little Spying Among Friends?
Oh So Social
Rendezvous at Georgetown Pharmacy
Pumpkins and Perjury
Under Covers
The Last Supper of Vitaly Yurchenko
Yurchenko the Revisionist
District of Columbia--Downtown
Codebreaker
Watching Abe Lincoln
Intelligence Central
Swinging Spies
The Spy Who Fed the Meter
A Black-Bag Job
Eyes Only
Hoover Ate Here
Rebel Rose
The Defector and the Call Girl
Cloak and Swagger
The Zimmermann Telegram
Open Secrets
The Nest That Hatched the Egg
Have You Driven a U-2 Lately?
Shoot/Don’t Shoot
FBI II
Schmoozing
District of Columbia--Capitol Hill and Environs
And Then There Were None
The Rebel Press Agent
The Secret Room
The Downing File
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
District of Columbia--Around the Mall
The Kremlin, Magic and the On-the-Roof Gang
Clandestine Collectibles
Eye in the Sky
They Never Forget a Spy
District of Columbia--Upper Northwest
Codename MARY
The Dangle
A Local Mata Hari
G-Girl
The Third Man, a Legend
Hoover Slept Here
Spies in the Attic
Maryland
Dead Drops
Club Jed
The Game of Soviet Pursuit
Thee Name It, We Have It
Dog Days at the FBI
SIGINT City
Learning to Love the Bombe
The Fifth Column
The Andersonville of the North
Virginia
The One Who Cracked
In the Line of Duty
The Color PURPLE
Trolling
The First Spymaster
At Sea at a Covert Interrogation Center
Stacking the Deck
The Search for Sasha
Confederate Heroine?
Doctor Death
Jeb Stuart’s Secret Muse
Get Your CIA Mugs Here
Self-Appointed Chinese Emissary
Dueling Defectors
Chez Espionage
Inside the Agency
Spy Recipes
Christian Renault’s Recipes for Angleton
Steamed Mussels
Spycatcher’s Scampi
Chef Guy Bougère’s Poached Salmon for Yurchenko
Tradecraft from Miss Leslie’s New Cookery Book
Sherry Cobbler Roasted Oysters
Advice from The Virginia House-wife
Vinegar of the Four Thieves
Glossary