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The Queen's Agent
The Queen's Agent: Sir Francis Walsingham and the Rise of Espionage in Elizabethan England | John Cooper
3 posts | 2 read | 9 to read
A captivating chronicle of the exploits of Sir Francis Walsingham—the first great English spymaster and the man who saved Elizabeth’s regime and the country’s independence. Elizabeth I came to the throne at a time of insecurity and unrest. Rivals threatened her reign; England was a Protestant island, isolated in a sea of Catholic countries. Spain plotted an invasion, but Elizabeth’s Secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham, was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her. He ran a network of agents in England and Europe who provided him with information about invasions or assassination plots. He recruited likely young men and “turned” others. He encouraged Elizabeth to make war against the Catholic Irish rebels, with extreme brutality, and oversaw the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. The Queen’s Agent is a story of secret agents, cryptic codes and ingenious plots, set in a turbulent period of England’s history. It is also the story of a man devoted to his queen, sacrificing his every waking hour to save the threatened English state.
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review
led567
Pickpick

Really good. This must be based on years, maybe decades, of research into the whole period and then the author‘s had to explain complicated issues as clearly as possible so we can understand the background to incidents in the book. Really impressive and gives a well-rounded portrait of Walsingham. I understand a lot more about the Elizabethan PR project now too! One to read again.

quote
Oblomov26
post image

Most of us know Walshingham as the Geoffrey Rush character in the Elizabeth movies. This books shows a much more nuanced character a lawyer, ambassador and Protestant who grew into the greatest spymaster of his generation. A man with informers and spies throughout Europe, who foiled catholic assassins, was responsible for the execution of Mary Queen is Scots and provided timely information on the Armada. Yet a remarkably non descript humble man.

Oblomov26 Err and this was meant as a review 7y
Rachbb3 This sounds really good. 7y
54 likes5 stack adds2 comments
review
Amanda_Bradburn
Pickpick

First off, this cover is beautiful. Secondly, John Cooper did a fabulous job keeping this book fascinating. His style and tone are academic, but one can tell he is passionate about this topic. This book is a great image of both Walsingham's cleverness and the deceit of Elizabethan times.