The Secret Adversary is Agatha Christie’s second novel, and the first to feature Tommy and Tuppence Beresford. When we meet them Tommy is an unemployed ex-lieutenant, having served in the First World War. Tuppence is also unemployed and is desperate not to have to live at home. Having little money and few options for making…
Elizabeth’s Spy Master is the history of Francis Walsingham and his efforts to protect Queen Elizabeth I. The secondary title is ‘Francis Walsingham and the secret war that saved England’, and this secondary title highlights the focus of the book. Although Elizabeth’s Spy Master covers Walsingham’s life from birth to death, it concentrates on his work against Catholic…
The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages is a selection of essays on various aspects of history covering the period 950 – 1250 CE (or AD, if you prefer). The authors of the essays are French. However, although one or two of the early essays seem a bit Franco-centric, a lot more ground is…
The Mysterious Affair at Styles was Agatha Christie’s first novel. It is also the first appearance of her most famous detective, Hercule Poirot. Coincidentally, it’s the first Agatha Christie book I ever read, longer ago than I care to admit. The Mysterious Affair at Styles is narrated by Poirot’s good friend and occasional companion, Captain…
