Watchers

Product Description

The acclaimed & enthralling story of the dark side of Elizabethan rule from Stephen Alford Elizabeth I's reign is known as a golden age yet to much of Europe she was a ' Jezebel' & heretic who had to be destroyed. The Watchers is a thrilling portrayal of the secret state that sought to protect the Queen; a shadow world of spies codebreakers agent provocateurs & confidence-men who would stop at nothing to defend the realm. Reviews: Forget Le Carre Deighton & the rest
- this is more enthralling than any modern spy fiction". (Daily Telegraph). " Absorbing & closely documented... Alford vividly evokes this murky world of codes ciphers invisible ink intercepted letters aliases disguises forgeries & instructions to burn after reading.. .flowing narrative [and] crisp judments.. .engrossing". (Guardian). "[ Alford] has brought a dash of le Carre to the 16th century". (The Times (Book of the Week)). "A vivid & staggeringly well-researched portrait of the sinister side of Elizabethan Engl&... This is a spectacular book. It sheds new light on plots that most historians have ceased to explore & brings less famous conspiracies to the attention of the general reading public". (Herald). " Fascinating... If you want to know the inside story of this struggle the dark heart of calculation & the fight for survival then this is the book to read. I know no better". (Spectator). About the author: Stephen Alford is the author of the acclaimed biography Burghley: William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I & a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He taught for fifteen years at Cambridge University where he was a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of History & a Fellow of King's College. He is now Professor of Early Modern British History in the University of Leeds."