Elizabeth I came to the throne at a time of insecurity & unrest. Rivals threatened her reign; England was a Protestant island isolated in a sea of Catholic countries. Spain plotted an invasion but Elizabeths Secretary Francis Walsingham was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her. He ran a network of agents in England & Europe who provided him with information about invasions or assassination plots. He recruited likely young men & turned others. He encouraged Elizabeth to make war against the Catholic Irish rebels with extreme brutality & oversaw the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. The Queens Agent" is a story of secret agents cryptic codes & ingenious plots set in a turbulent period of Englands history. It is also the story of a man devoted to his queen sacrificing his every waking hour to save the threatened English state."