Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage

Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage is an interesting nonfiction book about the use of modern-day spy techniques in the time of Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, and the bloody wars between the Catholics and the Protestants during the mid 1500's. It was England Vs. France and Spain and the book proves beyond any doubt that all's fair in love and war. And this little book is filled with both. Queen Elizabeth occupied the throne of England and Mary and her backers launched a sinister campaign to take it from her by any means possible and return the Protestant realm to Catholic control. In this dark upheaval of hypocritical holiness gone amuck gossip mongers were everywhere and trust worthy friends were impossible to find. Indeed, in the historic words of Charles Baillie, Mary's messenger who was arrested and imprisoned in 1571 for carrying secret information, "Be friend to no one. Be enemy to none." The price of culpability was high: long prison sentences, torture on the rack, and beheading were as common as modern day traffic tickets. So the only way to get the absolute straight skinny on anybody was to invent a strategy of covert operations, double agents, disinformation and secret codes that could reveal the unaltered truth. Knowledge was power, and there was one man who knew just how to go about getting it and using it - Elizabeth's own brilliant ambassador to France - Sir Francis Walsington, a.k.a. The Spy Master. Do you think you have a tough job? His job was to set the course of history. Exactly what did he do, and how did he go about it? I recommend you read the book and find out. You won't be disappointed.

A short, yet comprehensive study of Sir Francis Walsingham. A brilliant spy master. He coordinated espionage activities against Spain and France and internal enemies (both real and unfortunately imagined) of Queen Elizabeth I. This history shows black operations and black propaganda, influence operations, the acquisition of foreign intelligence, the recruitment of agents, covert action, mail intercept, etc. It's about the figurative "puppet master" - the Privy Councillor - that affected and influenced the course of history. He influenced the events surrounding Elizabeth's contest for power with Mary Queen of Scotts, etc. As a bonus, you will also learn about how the Spanish King Phillip managed his correspondence and managed his Empire. The study of an intelligence and political master in the context of Elizabethan England, the times of the Spanish Armada's attack on England, etc. An excellent book that I highly recommend for the serious student.

This book is written in a breezy style that still is true to its subject: intelligence gathering during the reign of Elizabeth I. At that time it wasn't a particularly organized system, depending as it did upon paid agents or simply malcontents from the opposing side. Sir Francis Walsingham made a beginning attempt to better organize the gathering of information and, for the most part, he succeeded. The book concentrates mostly upon two episodes: the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the coming of the Spanish Armada. Mary's story is s tense one of ciphers, imprisonment, double agents, and the stealing of information from ambassadors. It's a tawdry business, but was justified by its practitioners as a way to keep their Queen on the throne, and save England for Protestantism. It's a well written book, and adds to our knowledge of the times of the early Tudors.

This is the remarkable story of the man who invented the craft of intelligence almost four hundred and fifty years ago. Walsingham's methods would have been suitable for any intelligence organization in the Cold War. In fact, he might have performed better than some of the actual intelligence people of our own time. The book is told in an easy to read style, with contex explained for the times in which Walsingham lived and worked. The book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the Elizabethian era and/or the history of espionoge.

In a time of an abosolute monarch, the court revolves around people who specialize in providing that monarch with what she wants. Walsingham obviously supplied Elizabeth with what she wanted. Using techniques that sound like they come from a James Bond novel, he was able to set up an intelligence network that gave the queen proof of the actions of traitors, vital information about the Spanish Armada, and more. He did this without the nicieties of Miranda warnings, or search warrents, his men opened the mail and copyed letters (especially bad for Mary Queen of Scots). Mr. Budiansky's writing style is open and easy. It reads fast, not like a history book. There are no footnotes (but there are some notes at the back of the book), there's not even an index (sorely missed if you want to look up something like where does he talk about Dudley). I'm not so sure that Walsingham's spy networks fit into today's world quite as easily as he believes. Then again during World War II with the 'Man Who Wasn't There,' and other activities, maybe it was pretty close.