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Her Majesty's Spymaster: Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the Birth of Modern Espionage. By Stephen Budiansky. New York: Viking, 2005. ISBN 0-670-03426-6. Illustrations. Notes on sources. Bibliography. Pp. xvii, 235. #24.95.
Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth I's most famous "spymaster," is often regarded as the father-figure of the English secret service, a kind of Elizabethan prototype for MI6's 'C'. Such claims are not entirely accurate, but Walsingham's reputation as a spymaster-both among his contemporaries and in succeeding centuries-makes him a major figure in the history of intelligence. Despite something of a flurry of books on Elizabethan espionage in recent years, the standard biography of Walsingham remains the three-volume study by Gonyers Read which was published in 1925. Stephen Budiansky's new book does not seek to change this state of affairs. Instead, he offers a brief and vivid insight into Walsingham's life and work. Starting with a detailed account of...