Drawing on a wide range of primary sources and literature, this book tells the story of the role the secret service played in some of the major political events of modern history. The content of the book refutes fashionable theories that attribute intelligence to the ability to determine the paths of historical development, and at the same time calls for vigilance, shows how dangerous a weapon is a secret war in the clash between the forces of reaction and progress. While maintaining a scientific approach to the plots being interpreted, the author sought to give the book the most popular character possible.