The Queen's Agent: Francis Walsingham at the Court of Elizabeth I - Brossura

John Cooper

Brossura

ISBN 10: 057121827X ISBN 13: 9780571218271

Casa editrice: Faber & Faber, 2012

Riassunto

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, 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 encourage 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.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

'A superb new account of Walsingham and the Tudor age, paints a John le Carre-like world of double dealing and intrigue ... In pages of crisp prose and with punctilious scholarship and vivid storytelling, The Queen's Agent brilliantly recreates Elizabethan England in all its cloak-and-dagger intrigue and glory. George Smiley would have liked it.' --Sunday Telegraph

'Fascinating ... John Cooper neither vilifies nor lionises his subject, preferring to set his actions in context ... Cooper does not neglect other less well-known aspects of Walsingham's career ... Cooper's lucid and readable study of this 'most subtle searcher of hidden secrets' does much to show that Walsingham's work was 'odious though necessary'.' --Literary Review

'Walsingham emerges as a severe, complex and haunted character in this compelling biography.' --Sunday Telegraph

Descrizione del libro:

The Queen's Agent by John Cooper is the definitive book about Francis Walsingham, the first great English spy master and the man who saved Elizabeth's regime and England's independence.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Faber & Faber
• Data di pubblicazione: 2012
• ISBN 10: 057121827X
• ISBN 13: 9780571218271
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 416