The Elizabethan Secret Service

The gathering of intelligence through espionage was an integral part of diplomacy in 16th-century Europe. Every major state could call on the services of wide-ranging and highly organized networks of spies and informers who penetrated the nooks and crannies of court and chamber. As the sectarian warfare that was ravaging Europe became more deadly, the effective manipulation of intelligence networks became vital, especially in Elizabethan England - a kingdom under threat from continental Catholicism and from the intrigue surrounding Mary Queen of Scots. This book charts the early years of the English secret service as it evolved under the direction of the Elizabethan spymaster, Francis Walsingham, who gained a high reputation for his success in breaking the plots aimed at the subversion of the Elizabethan state.