Her Majesty's spymaster : Elizabeth I, Sir Francis Walsingham, and the birth of modern espionage / Stephen Budiansky.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [231]-235).

A staunch Puritan, sober in dress, Sir Francis Walsingham must, ironically, have stood out in the flamboyant court of Elizabethan England. What distinguished him was not only his dress; as Budiansky succinctly puts it, "he knew how to shut up." This narrative recounts Walsingham's growth from Protestant expatriate to English ambassador to France, principal secretary, privy councilor, and untitled spymaster for Elizabeth I, engaging in operations related to her rivalry with Mary, Queen of Scots, and to the Catholic countries of Spain and France. Walsingham's discretion was so complete that he took to his grave many of his intelligence-gathering methods, which had helped make England a major player on the world stage. Nonetheless, Budiansky (Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II), a correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly, shows that this man was responsible for forging many espionage techniques that carry into our own era (e.g., codebreaking, double agents). Budiansky's prose is peppered with a wry wit that makes the book a pure joy to read. A chronology of events, a list of relevant names, and a brief discussion of the language, money, and calendar of the period make for helpful additions to the character-rich tale.