Cromwell's Spy

The remarkable story of George Downing—savvy soldier, politician, diplomat, spy, and one of the most scandalous figures of his era. Judged by contemporaries to be a "perfidious rogue," Sir George Downing rose to prominence during the English Civil War as Oliver Cromwell's chief of military intelligence. In the Interregnum he proved himself a double-dealer who bribed and blackmailed his way to diplomatic success across Europe (pioneering the practice of judicial kidnapping and starting two major