read another book on Walsingham and anted to read this one as well, What a man !
The first secret service and his contacts in the French and Spanish courts for the time were amazing.
I belive that he had a mole in the Vatican as well, Great history of the troubled times of Elizabeths reign, Mary queen of Scots bid for power, the struggle of the Reformation and the Spanish Armada.
Sir Francis Walsinghams official title was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I, but in fact this pious, tight lipped Puritan was Englands first spymaster.
A ruthless, fiercely loyal civil servant, Walsingham worked brilliantly behind the scenes to foil Elizabeths rival Mary Queen of Scots and outwit Catholic Spain and France, which had arrayed their forces behind her.
Though he cut an incongruous figure in Elizabeths worldly court, Walsingham managed to win the trust of key players like William Cecil and the Earl of Leicester before launching his own secret campaign against the queens enemies.
Covert operations were Walsinghams genius he pioneered techniques for exploiting double agents, spreading disinformation, and deciphering codes with the latest code breaking science that remain staples of international espionage.
Comprehensively researched by an enthusiast, For non scholars this may drag a little but gets to the heart of England's enemies in those days.
Stephen Budiansky's "Her Majesty's Spymaster" is a very readable popular history of Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth I's personal secretary and informal chief of intelligence.
Written in a breathless novelistic style, Budiansky captures the atmospherics and endless intigues of the Tudor period in a way designed to capture the interest of the average person without background in the era.
He succeeds in making the religious struggles and dynastic wars of this distant period accessible to the modern reader.
Walsingham was unusual in his time in that he served in a high position in government without having come from the nobility.
His rise from what would now be termed a middle class upbringing was based on education, talent, and good service.
Walsingham turned out to be a superbly capable spymaster who could get and keep secrets and protect the fortunes of his Queen and country.
Walsingham was especially effective in managing the English rivalry with France, including the dangerous problem of the status of Mary Queen of Scots, and the running conflict with Spain.
Budiansky is less than effective in making the case that Walsingham gave birth to modern espionage.
Walsingham learned his craft from his mentor and predecessor, Lord Burghley, and his success was due less to inventing new methods of espionage than to making fewer mistakes than his contemporaries in executing already widely known tactics and techniques.
This book is recommended to the casual reader looking for an introduction to the intrigues of the Elizabeath period.
The close student of the history of the period will find no information that has not been covered in detail elsewhere.
Excellent biography of a key person who has not received the attention due, The bibliography and notes are excellent starting points for those looking to learn about the players who made Elizabeth's reign one of the most successful periods in English history.
I have a particular fascination for powers behind the throne, something that describes Walsingham well, This is a good insight into the life of Walsingham, though, for me, it spends too much time doing what other books do telling me about the man and not about his techniques.
In some areas it seems to go out of its way to avoid giving details,
Overall, a useful addition to my collection, but not exactly what I was hoping for.
This is not a dry as dust biography indeed it isn't really a biography at all, It is a collection of intricate cameos of Walsingham's life, which seemed to consist of work, work and work all for Queen and country.
It is about the political machinations and associated espionage plus Walsingham's part in keeping Good Queen Bess afloat: he was one of the few who could speak his mind to Elizabeth and keep his head.
Walsingham was cunning, ruthless and dangerous he orchestrated impressive spy rings but somehow above it all as Elizabeth's equivalent of Prime Minister.
Well written highly readable absolutely fascinating and definitely in the "I can't put it down" league, Lots of little and large insights into the workings of the father of modern espionage and Elizabeth's court.
If you're interested in spying or the Tudors then this is a must, Without learning why IT is necessary to create a machinery of eyes and ears within different courts Elizabeth I would not have been that powerful.
It's easy when to Apply that knowledge with todays world insanities, Great service great book I loved the book, I learned about Elizabeth I in these pages than I ever did in school or from watching movies about her.
She came real and so did Mr, Secretary. The Armada and Drake were also totally different from the tripe we were taught, Mr. Budiansky held my attention throughout, I will read others of his works as well, This is a popular history of events in the reign of Elizabeth I, focused on the life of Sir Francis Walsingham, a senior member of the privy council who was responsible for a wide array of cloak and dagger work.
It includes many details of the intricate and treacherous world of spies and double agents of the period, including the intercepted letters that eventually led to the execution of Mary Queen of Scots.
It is sometimes a little light, but it is very readable, It helped me better understand the connections between events such as the St Bartholomew's massacre of the protestant nobility in Paris, the Spanish Armada, the conspiracies around Mary, and the distinctly paranoid atmosphere of Elizabeth's court.
It isn't surprising that the protestant leadership of England were highly alarmed after what they had seen happen to their coreligionists in Paris and amidst the various rumoured conspiracies around Mary.
Elizabeth herself is portrayed as continually vacillating, Sometimes by intent, to stall and delay her enemies or to allow events to unfold, but sometimes out of mere habit and apparently sometimes out of alarming genuine indecisiveness.
This is by no means a complete history of Elizabeth I's times, But it sheds some interesting light and reminds us of the long dark history of spies and double dealing between nations.
Having just read the review by the esteemed Lisa Jardine her "Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance" is a great bookfor the Washington Post, I felt compelled to respond.
She's rather harsh with it I think, I don't think Budiansky's history is any less accurate just because he is writing to an audience wider than us nerdy historians.
It's just a lot less technical, I'm sure she misses all the footnotes and endnotes that we tend to live for, but I think that his narrative style gives his subject life and makes it a lot fun to read than most history that is written for historians.
I think this book is a great introduction into the world of Elizabethan politics and espionage.
Budiansky's work should not be compared to one such as Conyers Read's still a great historian if a bit outdated, for they have completely different audiences for which they are writing.
That said, perhaps Jardine was trying to say as much when she cited "Shakespeare in Love", but I think that's an unfair comparison Budiansky takes FAR fewer liberties with fact.
So, if you are a non historian, a casual reader, or
if you're looking for a book for your undergraduate students, I recommend this book.
If you are a history junky, and/or trying to find an authoritative work on Walsingham for graduate studies, you'll probably only want to use this book as a quick summary it's an easy/fast read of the carreer of Mr.
Secretary Walsingham, if at all, There are certainly authoritative books out there, but few as entertaining to read, And shouldn't history be fun to read,