Elizabeth's Spy Master : Francis Walsingham and the secret war that saved England [ Spymaster ] - Softcover

Hutchinson, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0753822482 ISBN 13: 9780753822487

Publisher: W&N, 2007

Synopsis

The incredible real life story of the world's first super spy

Francis 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 expert's 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 judgement 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

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)

Book Description:

The incredible real life story of the world's first super spy

About this edition

• Publisher: W&N
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0753822482
• ISBN 13: 9780753822487
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416