Product Description

In the latter part of the 16th century, Elizabethan London was uneasy: was it France's intent to side with Protestant England or with the hostile Catholic powers of Europe? This volume describes the espionage operation that was devised to find the answer. John Bossy speculates on the identity of the mole in the French ambassador's household and tells the details of the arrests, escapes, crises and deals surrounding the affair.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #405877 in Books
• Published on: 2002-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Review
"A gripping story of Elizabethan realpolitik revealed in step-by-step detail. Bossy knows more about this intriguing chapter in Elizabethan politics than anyone else and is still finding new and surprising things in it. The book is written with characteristic gusto... One talks of 'close readings' of history, but few get closer than Bossy's." Charles Nicholl, Sunday Times "Bossy's case is most persuasive and his sleuthing is meticulous and exhaustive. He is also a witty writer." Frank McLynn, Literary Review "Bossy tells the story with all his familiar narrative flair." Ralph Houlbrooke, Times Literary Supplement

Frank McLynn, Literary Review
"Bossy’s case is most persuasive and his sleuthing is meticulous and exhaustive. He is also a witty writer."

Ralph Houlbrooke, Times Literary Supplement
"Bossy tells the story with all his familiar narrative flair."

Customer Reviews

Under the Molehill - an Elizabethan Spy Story
'Historia', as Simon Schama reminds us in 'Dead Certainties', means 'enquiry'. In 'Under the Molehill', John Bossy returns to his enquiry into the tortuous world of the Elizabethan cold war, 1583-85, previously visited in his acclaimed 'Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair'. There, his aim was to catch a spy; now he sets himself and us the more difficult task of uncovering the resident mole at the French Embassy at Salisbury Court, London. In France, the Catholic League was at war with King Henri III, and allied to both Spain and Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned in England. In Rome, the French King and the Catholic League maintained separate Embassies; in London, however, the unfortunate French Ambassador, M. Castelnau, was forced to include Frenchmen of all political persuasions under one roof. The French Embassy was a hotbed of intrigue, espionage and counter-espionage; in short, it was leaking like the proverbial sieve. John Bossy is quick to see the element of farce inherent in the situations, as agents for the Catholic League, agents for Mary, agents for Spain, agents for the true intentions of King Henri III and not least, agents of Elizabeth's incomparable spymaster, Walsingham, slip unseen through the gardens and dark alleyways surrounding the Embassy. It is a world of spies, double agents and resident moles, and John Bossy's task is made more difficult when, in passing on inflammatory material, Walsingham's mole urges the spymaster to burn the evidence. Through meticulous research, Bossy leads us to the identity of the mole, and analyses his part in uncovering the source of the 1584 Throckmorton Plot to assassinate Elizabeth and precipitate a foreign invasion. Was the inspiration for the plot Mendoza, the Spanish Ambassador, or was it Castelnau himself? Was Elizabeth's government about to break off diplomatic relations with the wrong country, leaving the real culprit in London to complete his task? Francis Throckmorton, on the rack in the Tower was confessing to anything; Mary, Queen of Scots was poised in Sheffied to benefit from any assassination attempt. King Henri III of France had little to gain from Elizabeth's death; was Castelnau, if guilty, working for his King...or the Catholic League..or Mary? Walsingham and Elizabeth needed a mole they could trust in the French Embassy, and Bossy painstakingly leads us through the evidence delivered by that mole. Building on Labanoff's classic 1844-45 edition of Mary Stuart's letters and his own lifetime research into the recusant scene in Elizabethan England, Bossy introduces us to an engaging array of nefarious characters, English, Scots. French, Welsh, all Catholic and all engaged in espionage. A weakness inherent in the whole project, however, is that moles have to be inconspicuous, and unlike 'Giordano Bruno and the Embassy Affair', Bossy cannot serve up a Great Name as his central character. Clearly, he has a fondness for his mole; whether readers will warm to such a necessarily insignificant character is doubtful.

But 'Under the Molehill' is fascinating on a totally different level. As in 'Giordano Bruno', Professor Bossy takes advatantage of his considerable academic standing to produce an Historia which does not necessarily fall into any of the accepted historiographical genres. Bossy unfolds his narrative from the point of view of the historical researcher himself, and invites us, as readers, to peer over his shoulder as his investigation develops. As carefully as a forensic scientist, Bossy analyses the evidence with us, including tables of letters and copies of handwriting for comparison. By the last chapter, the reader can be forgiven for believing he knows more about the workings of Professor Bossy's mind than that of the Elizabethan mole.

In the final analysis, does it work? That depends how you like your history. Those who believe the historian should give a polished, structured answer with no recourse to the perpendicular pronoun will be disappointed. Those, however, who enjoy a good whodunit, will revel in sharing the process of Bossy's historical research. Following meticulous footnotes, many of which, in themselves,are worth following up, the reader can watch as Bossy peels off each layer, to reveal the identity of the mole. In the end, it is, perhaps, as much a book about historical methodology as Elizabethan espionage. Under the Molehill is not an easy book to read, but one to which the reader can return time and time again. There is a suspicion that one of those layers disgarded by Bossy could well provide the substance for an Historia in its own right.