Elizabeth's Spymaster: Francis Walsingham and the Secret War That Saved England - Hardcover

Hutchinson, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312368224 ISBN 13: 9780312368227

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 2007

Synopsis

England in the time of Elizabeth was on the brink of disaster. On the continent, Catholic Spain sought to forcefully reimpose the Catholic Church on its Protestant neighbors. At home, a network of powerful Catholic families posed a real and serious threat to the Protestant queen. In this world, information was power: those closest to the Queen were there because they had the best network to gather it.
 
Elizabeth's Spymaster is the story of the greatest spy of the time: Sir Francis Walsingham. Walsingham was the first 'spymaster' in the modern sense. His methods anticipated those of MI5 and MI6 and even those of the KGB. He maintained a network of spies across Europe, including double agents at the highest level in Rome and Spain---the sworn enemies of Queen Elizabeth and her protestant regime. His entrapment of Mary, Queen of Scots is a classic intelligence operation that resulted in her execution.

 

As Robert Hutchinson reveals, his cypher experts' ability to intercept other peoples' secret messages and his brilliant forged letters made him a fearsome champion of the young Elizabeth. Yet even this Machiavellian schemer eventually fell foul of Elizabeth as her confidence grew (and judgment faded). The rise and fall of Sir Francis Walsingham is a Tudor epic, vividly narrated by a historian with unique access to the surviving documentary evidence.
 

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Hutchinson was defense correspondent for the Press Association 1976-83 before moving to Jane's Information Group to launch Jane's Defence Weekly. He is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and a contributing author to The Archaeology of Reformation.

Review:

An accessible, authoritative account of Francis Walsingham's life and work. Written with a sense of the dramatic... The author is very good at evoking the atmosphere of suspicion and paranoia during Elizabeth's reign and seems to relish describing the methods of torture at Walsingham's disposal and the brutality of the age. It makes Elizabethan statecraft immediate and entertaining. THE BOOK MAGAZINE Robert Hutchinson's lucid and learned volume gives us a vivid portrait of Walsingham... an excellent book. -- Frank McLynn INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY Walsingham emerges from these pages as a hero of epic stature. DAILY TELEGRAPH compelling LITERARY REVIEW Hutchinson neatly combines his expert knowledge with an impressive narrative suspense and mordant sense of humour... A darkly informative read. WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY The story told here is intense and compelling. BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE Impeccably researched... the author has constructed what almost amounts to a thriller in this gripping narrative. GOOD BOOK GUIDE full of stimulating detail... vivid glimpses of the world of Elizabethan espionage -- Simon Callow THE GUARDIAN superb research THE TABLET by shining a light into the murky world he inhabited , the author grants [Walsingham] his proper place in English history. THIS ENGLAND the strength of this book lies in its combination of brilliant original research with a compelling narrative. HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0312368224
• ISBN 13: 9780312368227
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400