Subtitled: Francis Walsingham at the Court of Elizabeth I

This is the biography of a man who rose from humble origins through courtly ranks to become First Secretary to Queen Elizabeth I. Along the way it tells the gripping story of events in England, Europe, Asia and America at a time of great international struggles and unrest.

Starting at the massacre of the Protestant Huguenots in Paris in 1572, and with chapters about turmoil in Ireland, troubled settlements in Virginia, wars with European neighbours and the question of who might marry the Queen, there’s a lot of material to cover. And then of course there are the internal battles between Protestants and Catholics struggling to control the nation, with the subtleties of some Protestants wishing tolerance whilst others wanted to destroy all traces of the Catholic faith and Catholics loyal to the Queen and others wishing England to be ruled by Philip of Spain. I conclude that if it hadn’t been for Walsingham and his network of agents, we’d be speaking Spanish now!
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SWMBO got this book on our shared Kindle account because she met Lady Soames in Normandy at the 60th Anniversary of D-Day. I decided to read it because I like biographies and it looked interesting. It is.

The book takes us from her birth in 1922 (there is even some family background that pre-dates her birth) up to her marriage in 1947. The Churchills were privileged and well connected and from a very young age Mary moved in the rarefied circle of national and world leaders.


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