The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I by Stephen Alford
‘Alford’s splendid exploration of the secret world of Elizabethan England begins with an arresting what-if-scenario: what if the queen had been assassinated in 1586?….he sets the scene for a riveting study of the spies, informers and code-breakers who kept the Virgin Queen safe from Catholic conspiracies during an erathat was much more paranoid that we remember.’ (Dominic Sandbrook, p.44, 25 November 2012)
