Informative, though some may wince at Walsingham’s bloody tactics.
An examination of the life and sometimes gruesome career of the Protestant official who crushed Catholic resistance in 16th-century England.
Hutchinson (The Last Days of Henry VIII, 2005) delves deep into history to explore the life of Francis Walsingham (1532–90), a seminal yet little known figure whose influence still resonates today. The author’s broad knowledge of the Elizabethan era helps elucidate the key issues in which his subject was embroiled. Perhaps of even greater importance, Hutchinson unveils the methodology Walsingham employed to garner crucial intelligence for his queen after he took over her secret intelligence service from Sir William Cecil. Elizabeth called Walsingham “a rank Puritan,” but both were fervent Protestants, and one of the spymaster’s first tasks was to quash the threat from “that devilish woman,” Catholic Mary Queen of Scots. Walsingham stopped at nothing, even forging correspondence to discredit Mary. As Hutchinson details these events and the growing threat from Catholic Spain, he notes parallels between his subject’s techniques and modern day intelligence operations. Walsingham would have had no problem, the author avers, with the draconian measures taken by many Western nations in recent years to combat terrorism. Indeed, ‘human rights’ was an unknown concept in an age when suspects were routinely tortured to extract information. Hutchinson painstakingly scrutinizes the broad range of grisly devices employed in these activities and proffers information on such accomplices as chief torturer Richard Topcliffe, “rackmaster” Thomas Norton and playwright Christopher Marlowe, who became part of the spy ring Walsingham formed.
Informative, though some may wince at Walsingham’s bloody tactics.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-312-36822-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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