#254 Elizabeth's Spy Master (2006)

Author: Robert Hutchinson
Title: Elizabeth’s Spy Master
Genre: History/Biography
Year: 2006
Pages: 350
Origin: bought from the Works for £2.99
Nod Rating: 3 nods out of 5

 

A few weeks previously the Worm read another Tudor based book written by Robert Hutchinson (Young Henry). The Worm was slightly unflattering with his review, concluding it with the words: ‘there is little need in anyone picking up a copy of Hutchinson’s book in a hurry’. In fact, the Worm was reluctant to return to any Hutchinson book anytime soon, however, both Young Henry and this book, Elizabeth’s Spy Master, were bought together. It tugged at the Worm’s heartstrings to leave the latter book on the shelves, consigned to the forgotten corners and untouched for many book reading years to come. So, guilt won out. But the Worm is thankful for this. Hutchinson’s Elizabeth’s Spy Master is a far superior book on many levels. Allow him to explain in greater detail.

The book is centred on the life and times of Sir Francis Walsingham. He is noted as one of the great statesmen of his age; alongside William Cecil and the Earl of Leicester he formed the bedrock on which the success of the Elizabethan state was built. He graduated up the slippery slope of politics until he became indispensable throughout the 1570s and 1580s, particularly in the administration of the country. However, it is within his role as “spy master” and thrawting Catholic plots in which he is popularly known. Hutchinson argues the case that Walsingham is ‘one of the great unknown heroes of English history. By right, he should rank with Horatio Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and even Sir Winston Churchill as one of the great patriotic defenders, against all-comers, of this island state.’

However, Walsingham appears not to have obtained his due by the public (although this is a different matter with historians and academics). Hutchinson believes this is due to him being ‘a man very much of the shadows’, and his book is an account of his shadowing doings and dealings.

The experience of reading the book is slightly jarring: it knows not if it is a biography or a history book analysing the period under question. Of course, Walsingham himself was tightly woven into the nation’s fortunes; as such, as with any political history, the reader must follow the great events. Hutchinson uses the Catholic plots against the country as a rough framework, building up a traditional biographical narrative as we reach the 1580s and the strife and drama of the Babington Plot. This in turn witnesses the trail and execution of Mary Queen of Scots, perhaps Walsingham’s greatest success. The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 serves as a climax, all before the death of the great man having tasted victory.

Due to much of the information on Walsingham’s personality and own thoughts are now seemingly lost to history, Hutchinson attempts to compensate by dragging the reader – kicking and screaming – into the dirty underworld of the age. This includes the torture exacted on Catholic missionary priests and the ghastly deaths and confessions extracted. Hutchinson is keen to highlight Walsingham’s role as the Tudor age’s answer to James Bond by concentrating on his spy network (devoting a section at the book’s conclusion to various people connected to this).

Elizabeth’s Spy Master is an engaging read. It shines the light on a man unknown to most, whose deeds were of high importance to an Elizabethan state that was delicately placed in a hostile world. You may not be in a hurry to buy a copy, but if anyone is browsing the titles available in a well-stocked Works they could do little better than pick up this book.

Buy it here