Elizabeth's Spymaster - Francis Walsingham and the Secret War that Saved England

Elizabeth's Spymaster - Francis Walsingham and the Secret War that Saved England

by Robert Hutchinson

Phoenix, HK$149

Reformation historian Robert Hutchinson has a new book out, Thomas Cromwell - The Rise and Fall of Henry VIII's Most Notorious Minister. It's a tough and unforgiving biography of the man behind the throne who effectively engineered the removal of all sorts of impediments to Henry's wants and whims. Also published is the paperback of his previous offering, Elizabeth's Spymaster, which seeks to elevate Francis Walsingham to the status of unknown hero. Both are rather odious figures in English history and Hutchinson goes a tad overboard in raising Walsingham so high, especially on the scant evidence the spymaster left by way of a paper trail. This was the man who oversaw a security apparatus that racked its victims on the merest allegation of dissent against Queen Elizabeth I or hint of disagreement about the supremacy of Protestantism. Reviewing in The Daily Telegraph, the erudite Simon Callow notes that Hutchinson is 'more interested in the mechanics of espionage and of that he has much of interest to say'. Indeed, for that alone, Elizabeth's Spymaster makes fascinating reading. There are rich chapters on the trial and beheading of Mary Queen of Scots and the defeat of the Spanish Armada.