Gunpowder Plot

I went into this book with a vague knowledge of the name 'Guy Fawkes' and that's pretty much it. I think some of the knowledge assumed by the author can be attributed to the fact that he is English, and the average English reader is probably more knowlegable of the details of the plot than the average American reader. Having read another work by Haynes, I also would say that he tends to assume a great deal of knowledge on the readers part. As a reader, I find that attractive, because if he assumes a great deal of knowlege on my part then he's more likely to give me unusual information that I wouldn't find elsewhere. As an American reader, I did find it a bit difficult to read between the lines for the information I didn't go into the book knowing, and according to what I read in Wikipedia the book doesn't go very far into the (apparentally) widely accepted theory that the whole thing was arranged by someone in the government (Salisbury) to give them an excuse to persecute Catholics further and tighten the Protestant hold. Primarily because he dismisses it as conspiritorial nonsense. Definitely an interesting read -- I didn't know much about the Catholic persecution and plots in Elizabethan England before and I feel more enlightened about the era in general, if not specifically the Gunpowder plot. It is a bit dry at times, but there are little anecdotes sprinkled throughout that make it an easier read. Definitely not light reading or a general overview of the Gunpowder Plot, but excellent for those who want detailed and unusual information.