Shining a light on the nefarious netherworlds of espionage, a new book co-authored by former Visiting Senior Research Fellow Prof. Nadine Akkerman, and ‘partner in crime’ Dr Pete Langman, is the first to concentrate on the actual techniques and technologies used by early modern spies.

Spycraft: Tricks and Tools of the Dangerous Trade from Elizabeth I to the Restoration, which Nadine co-wrote during her time at Jesus, takes a deep dive into the murky world of spying in the early modern period. From ciphers to counterfeiting, invisible inks to assassination, Europe was, at that time, a hotbed of espionage. Spies, spy-catchers, and conspirators pitted their wits against each other in deadly games of hide and seek. Theirs was a dangerous trade and, as Akkerman and Langman explain, only those who mastered the latest techniques would survive.

 

Drawing on a vast array of archival sources, the authors show how understanding the tricks and tools of espionage allows us to re-imagine well-known historical events such as the Babington and Gunpowder plots, and how the technological innovations of petty criminals, secretaries, and other hitherto invisible actors shaped the fate of some of history’s most iconic figures.

Nadine says, ‘Spycraft is a book that showcases the gritty reality of espionage in the early modern period, and I found that my fellowship at Jesus College provided me with inspiration at every turn, from its proximity to the Bodleian and its hoard of documentary evidence that is the Thurloe papers, the archive of Cromwell’s most memorable spymaster, to the portrait of Elizabeth I, whose very courtiers swore to be her eyes and ears, who watched me over dinner. One of the abiding subjects of the book is how time was the enemy of spy and counterspy alike, but for me, the time and space that Jesus allowed – along with the opportunity to interrogate co-conspirators such as Professor Susan Doran, Professor Paulina Kewes, Dr Andrew Dunning et al. – made the difference between a good book and, dare I say it, a great one.’

The book is published by Yale University Press, and available in hardback here.

 

About the authors

 

Nadine Akkerman is Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture at Leiden University and author of the acclaimed Invisible Agents. Pete Langman is an academic, OED bibliographer, author of Killing Beauties, and manuscript editor for Early Modern Low Countries Journal.