Turncoat
Roundhead to Royalist, the Double Life of Cromwell’s Spy
Seiten
2025
Atlantic Books (Verlag)
978-1-78649-825-0 (ISBN)
Atlantic Books (Verlag)
978-1-78649-825-0 (ISBN)
The remarkable story of George Downing: savvy soldier, politician, diplomat and spy... or the biggest scoundrel in Stuart England?
George Downing was one of the English Civil War's most cunning spies. As Oliver Cromwell's head of military intelligence, he forged a career as a politician and diplomat, bribing, blackmailing and browbeating his way to success, before spectacularly betraying his friends by defecting to the Royalist camp.
Always close to the action, Downing walked with the most illustrious men of his times: Oliver Cromwell and Charles II were his patrons; Samuel Pepys was his clerk; William of Orange godfather to his son. And when he came to build his famous street, Downing Street, which became the home of Britain's prime ministers, his surveyor was Sir Christopher Wren.
Downing helped start two major wars and had a hand in founding New York. Yet he has remained an elusive figure in history, as if hiding himself in footnotes. Turncoat tells the full story of Downing's espionage and double-dealing for the first time, following this mystery man from the asceticism of Puritan New England, across battlefields and through courts, chancelleries and parliaments, to the heart of wealth and power in Restoration London.
George Downing was one of the English Civil War's most cunning spies. As Oliver Cromwell's head of military intelligence, he forged a career as a politician and diplomat, bribing, blackmailing and browbeating his way to success, before spectacularly betraying his friends by defecting to the Royalist camp.
Always close to the action, Downing walked with the most illustrious men of his times: Oliver Cromwell and Charles II were his patrons; Samuel Pepys was his clerk; William of Orange godfather to his son. And when he came to build his famous street, Downing Street, which became the home of Britain's prime ministers, his surveyor was Sir Christopher Wren.
Downing helped start two major wars and had a hand in founding New York. Yet he has remained an elusive figure in history, as if hiding himself in footnotes. Turncoat tells the full story of Downing's espionage and double-dealing for the first time, following this mystery man from the asceticism of Puritan New England, across battlefields and through courts, chancelleries and parliaments, to the heart of wealth and power in Restoration London.
Dennis Sewell is a writer, broadcaster and a contributing editor of the Spectator. He spent twenty-two years on the staff of BBC News, where he worked as a reporter for Newsnight. His previous books include Catholics and The Political Gene.
1: An Unsentimental Education 2: Army versus Parliament 3: The Breda Mission 4: Mr Downing Goes to War 5: The Dunbar Fight 6: Capturing the Castle and Ending the War 7: Rump to Barebone's 8: A Marriage and a Settlement 9: A Diplomat Abroad 10: Politician and Envoy 11: Rendition 12: Rise and Fall 13: Si monumentum requiris . . . circumspice
| Erscheinungsdatum | 05.08.2023 |
|---|---|
| Verlagsort | London |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 156 x 234 mm |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte |
| Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-78649-825-1 / 1786498251 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-78649-825-0 / 9781786498250 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
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