Elizabethan England could boast of many things: it was the center of European trade, it produced Shakespeare, and it had begun to cultivate colonies in the New World. But it had little military power and lived under the constant threat of invasion by Spain and France. Unable to match her enemies at sea or on the battlefield, Queen Elizabeth was forced to engage them in a battle of wits. Her secret weapon was Sir Francis Walsingham, who carried the modest title of Principal Secretary but was in fact her spymaster. Walsingham trumped the Catholic nations with a force more formidable than Spain's armada: espionage.With the narrative of a spy novel, Her Majesty's Spymaster recounts how, in a time of terrific religious and political strife, Walsingham invented the art and science of modern espionage - and set Elizabethan England on the path to empire.Planting or recruiting agents in every foreign court in Europe as well as deep within the conspiracies of domestic plotters, Walsingham coolly thwarted repeated attempts on English soil. He used the new mathematical science of code breaking to decipher messages intercepted between ambassadors and kings. He spread subtle disinformation campaigns to foil Britain's foes and beguile her allies. And, with a brilliant sleight of hand, he caught Mary Queen of Scots deep in a plot to kill Elizabeth, and sent the Catholic queen to the gallows. Covert operations were Walsingham's genius: the techniques he pioneered remain staples of international espionage today.Stephen Budiansky brings to life not only the icy, Puritan Walsingham and the flamboyant Queen Elizabeth, but also Walsingham's intricate spy network, the shadow world beneath the tumult of Elizabethan England. Read Less