Espionage has been called the second oldest profession, and has become one of the newest fields of scholarly study. More than forty American colleges and universities offer courses in espionology (the study of intelligence and espionage), ranging from "Espionage in the Ancient World," taught at Georgetown University through "Espionage and History" at the University of New Hampshire, to Yale University's "Intelligence and Covert Operations." The Defense Intelligence College, an accredited educational institution operated by and for the U. S. government, granted the degree of Master of Science of Strategic Intelligence to those government employees and military personnel who complete its twelve-month program.Several private institutions are dedicated to the advance of espionology. The National Intelligence Study Center, The Consortium for the Study of Intelligence, and the Hale Foundation (named after Natham Hale, the patriot spy of the American Revolution) encourage and sponsor the study of intelligence and the teaching of espionology, that is "the study of the history, organization, and methods of intelligence", in colleges and universities, and work to improve public understanding of the role of intelligence in national security.So, just out of curiosity, let's take an open-minded close look at my irreverent look at the second oldest profession. I am sure you are going to like it. Real-life spy stories are much more interesting than any spy book written by John Le Carré, Len Deighton, Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy ... and, similar to what we have read in these highly entertaining novels, most of "true" spy stories are pure fiction, that is, pure bovine manure!