In this new biography, the story of James VI and I is laid bare, and a welter of scurrilous assumptions penned by his political opponents put to rest. What emerges is a portrait of James as his contemporaries knew him: a gregarious, idealistic man obsessed with the idea of family, whose personal and political goals could never match up to reality.
Summer.1606.England still reels from the narrow escape of the Gunpowder Plot. Jubilation and fear compete for dominance in London as the queen’s brother, King Christian of Denmark, arrives for the first state visit seen in decades.Ned Savage, thief and spy, is summoned by Robert Cecil and the bookish Francis Bacon.Intelligence has come in concerning the arrival of a female assassin, code-named Locusta.Savage soon discovers that the agent is in the employ of a secret society called the Brotherhood of Augustus.Their mission is one of terror and revenge.But who are they? And who is their target?Savage’s search takes him into the Tower of London to interrogate the last remaining member of the Gunpowder Plotters - and an old foe, Walter Raleigh. He is also on the trail of the disgraced Penelope Devereux, sister to the late earl of Essex.Savage gradually uncovers a plan to assassinate a king during the premiere performance of Macbeth at Hampton Court. But which king’s life is in peril - and how will the Brotherhood achieve their aim?The spy must discover the truth behind Locusta and the Augustans and foil their assassination plot before the curtain falls.