Francis Walsingham was the first spymaster in the modern sense. His methods anticipated those of MI5 & MI6 & even those of the KGB. He maintained a network of spies across Europe including double-agents at the highest level in Rome & Spain
- the sworn enemies of Queen Elizabeth & 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 & 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 & fall of Sir Francis Walsingham is a Tudor epic vividly narrated by a historian with unique access to the surviving documentary evidence.