Few works attempt to be as ambitious as Richard Wilmer Rowan's The Story of Secret Service. Rowan packs in thirty-three centuries of world history in this volume, tracing a long history of espionage and its impact. The history of espionage is a particularly difficult history to uncover because of its clandestine nature. Many thrilling stories are lost to time. However, due in part to Rowan's research and extensive, worldwide ties to sources, he is able to craft a chronological narrative full of anecdotes and recovered histories. Readers gain a new understanding not only of how espionage played a significant, but well hidden, role in shaping history, but also of unique developments in architecture, weaponry and communications, that allowed spies to succeed.