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All His Spies
- Author
- Stephen Alford
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Publish Date
- 4 July 2024
- Run Time
- 15 hours 42 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Rating
- 5.0 (1 review)
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
From the acclaimed author of The Watchers, the untold story of Robert Cecil - the ultimate Tudor spy-master
Robert Cecil, statesman and spymaster, lived through an astonishingly threatening period in English history. Queen Elizabeth had no clear successor and enemies both external and internal threatened to destroy England as a Protestant state, most spectacularly with the Spanish Armada and the Gunpowder Plot.
Cecil stood at the heart of the Tudor and then Stuart state, a vital figure in managing the succession from Elizabeth I to James I & VI, warding off military and religious threats and steering the decisions of two very different but equally wilful and hard-to-manage monarchs. The promising son of Queen Elizabeth’s chief minister Lord Burghley, for Cecil there was no choice but politics, and he became supremely skilled in the arts of power, making many rivals and enemies.
All His Spies is a wonderfully engaging and original work of history. Many readers are familiar with the great events of this tumultuous time, but All His Spies shows how easily these dramas could have turned out very differently. Cecil’s sureness of purpose, his espionage network and good luck all conspired to keep England uninvaded and to create a new ‘British’ monarchy which has endured to the present day.
© Stephen Alford 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024
Critics Review
-
Alford triumphs… in recreating the historical moment. By immersing himself in Cecil’s vast archive, he draws the reader deep into his working environment, capturing the closeness of his study and the chaos of the court… this is turn-of-century England as it really was – dangerous, gritty, on a knife edge
The Times
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A compelling portrait of a pivotal, yet often neglected, figure in Elizabethan and Jacobean politics. Alford's account of Robert Cecil and his spy network bristles with narrative energy and succinctly wise judgement
Peter Marshall
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One of the greatest biographies, a masterwork beautifully, intensely written and researched
Simon Sebag-Montefiore
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
-
5.0 5.0
Loved this book. Written in a way it's easy to follow and understand, a fascinating man brought to the front by the author Stephen Alford. Can not recommend this book enough if Tudor/Elizabethan type history and politics is your thing. Loved it
Scott L 2026-06-09
Details
- Author
- Stephen Alford
- Duration
- 15 hours 42 minutes
- Release Date
- 4 July 2024
- ISBN
- 9781802067590
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Penguin Books Ltd
- Genre
- European history, Espionage and secret services, Biography: historical, political and military
- Rating
- 5.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 5.0(1 review)
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin.From the acclaimed author of The Watchers, the untold story of Robert Cecil - the ultimate Tudor spy-masterRobert Cecil, statesman and spymaster, lived through an astonishingly threatening period in English history. Queen Elizabeth had no clear successor and enemies both external and internal threatened to destroy England as a Protestant state, most spectacularly with the Spanish Armada and the Gunpowder Plot.Cecil stood at the heart of the Tudor and then Stuart state, a vital figure in managing the succession from Elizabeth I to James I & VI, warding off military and religious threats and steering the decisions of two very different but equally wilful and hard-to-manage monarchs. The promising son of Queen Elizabeth’s chief minister Lord Burghley, for Cecil there was no choice but politics, and he became supremely skilled in the arts of power, making many rivals and enemies.All His Spies is a wonderfully engaging and original work of history. Many readers are familiar with the great events of this tumultuous time, but All His Spies shows how easily these dramas could have turned out very differently. Cecil’s sureness of purpose, his espionage network and good luck all conspired to keep England uninvaded and to create a new ‘British’ monarchy which has endured to the present day.© Stephen Alford 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024
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