The Watchers: A Secret History Of The Reign Of Elizabeth

Description

Elizabeth I's reign is known as a golden age, yet to much of Europe she was a 'Jezebel' and 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 and confidence-men who would stop at nothing to defend the realm. Stephen Alford brilliantly evokes a time of surveillance, paranoia, blackmail, plots and torture, when no-one could be trusted, and a single mistake could have changed England's history forever. 'Riveting . . . an enthralling account of the murky shadow-world of Elizabethan espionage.' Helen Castor, author of She-Wolves 'Splendid . . . a riveting study of the spies, informers and code-breakers who kept the Virgin Queen safe.' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times, Books of the Year 'An intimate and revealing exploration of the men who did the Elizabethan security state's dirty work.' Thomas Penn, author of Winter King 'Gripping, engrossing . . . vividly evokes a murky world of codes, ciphers, invisible ink, intercepted letters, aliases, disguises and forgeries . . . he tells an exciting story.' Keith Thomas, Guardian 'Fascinating . . . cat-and-mouse reminiscent of le Carré.' Tim Martin, Daily Telegraph

About the Author

Stephen Alford FRHistS (born 1970) is a British historian and academic. He has been professor of early modern British history at the University of Leeds since 2012. Educated at the University of St Andrews, he was formerly a British Academy Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge (1997–99) and junior research fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge and, between 1999 and 2012, a fellow in history at King's College, Cambridge. He has been a fellow of the Royal Historical Society since 2000.