About this episode
Late Tudor England was a dangerous place, with plots both at home and abroad, and no certainty about who was going to succeed the ageing queen, Elizabeth I. Into this perilous world stepped Robert Cecil, a brilliant but unglamorous statesman and spymaster who played a pivotal role in keeping the country together and ensuring a smooth transition to the Stuart monarchy. Professor Stephen Alford speaks to Rob Attar about this unheralded titan of the Tudor and Stuart courts. (Ad) Stephen Alford is the author of //All His Spies: The Secret World of Robert Cecil// (Penguin, 2024). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimresources.com?id=71026X1535947&xcust=historyextra-social-histboty&xs=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fall-his-spies%2Fstephen-alford%2F9780241423479. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices