text: The author tries to bring both the biography of Walsingham and a discussion of the birth of espionage together in the same book and succeeds at neither. It is a fine read if you would like a general overview of the time,  but, after reading the title and reviews, I was hoping for a detailed biography of Walsingham  or much detail on how he created the group of people who became his information gatherers.  Instead, it is a general overview of Walsingham's life with references to the work that he did. There are some interesting facts that the author brings forward that the reader might not find elsewhere , but the majority of the reading is rehashed from biographies of Elizabeth I. If you want details and a better understanding of Walsingham the man, and his life work and actions, you will need to look elsewhere
  