Overview

Statesman, strategist, survivor: Robert Cecil stood at the very heart of England’s transition from Tudor to Stuart rule. Hunched-backed and underestimated in an age hostile to disability, he rose to become Master Secretary to Elizabeth I and James I, suppressing the Essex Rebellion, foiling the Gunpowder Plot, and negotiating peace with Spain. In this richly imagined sequence of eighteen interlinked stories, Cecil’s voice is joined by those of his family, allies, and adversaries—Elizabeth I,  Anthony and Francis Bacon, Walter Raleigh, Ben Jonson, Arbella Stuart, and nameless spies and commoners whose lives brushed against his. From court intrigue to tavern gossip, from the grandeur of the Somerset House Peace Conference to a humble Limerick shop, these tales weave fact and fiction into a vivid portrait of one of history’s most remarkable political survivors. Spanning his birth to his final conversation with the sculptor designing his tomb, Master Secretary opens a window onto the world Shakespeare inhabited—a world of politics and diplomacy, comedy and tragedy, faith and betrayal. Grounded in historical record yet alive with imagination, this is a compelling re-telling of the life of Robert Cecil: underestimated by many, unforgotten by all.

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9781917837422

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Richard Woulfe is an Irish writer with a background in historical research and radio drama. A couple of his short stories have appeared in Postbox, the Scottish arts magazine, and one of his works won the Hastings Book Festival LGBT+ Prize 2024. He has written radio dramas produced by RTÉ Radio and The Wireless Theatre Company, both available online, as well as a stage play performed at the White Bear Theatre, Kennington.  He particularly likes weekend breaks in rural towns, and usually ends up having a pint in the local after visiting the sites. Originally from Limerick, he now lives in London, where he completed an MA in History at Birkbeck, University of London. Master Secretary, based on Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, is his first novel. Cecil has fascinated him for years.

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