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Spycraft 2024
Spycraft: Tricks and Tools of the Dangerous Trade from Elizabeth I to the Restoration is a nonfiction work authored by Nadine Akkerman and Pete Langman, released in 2024 by Yale University Press. The book explores espionage practices during the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, detailing methods such as forgeries, codes, disguises, invisible inks, and poisons. It includes explanatory images that recreate locked letters and forged signature stamps, showcasing the authors' research into material culture.
Jonathan Bate of The Daily Telegraph called it “an intriguing study ... of the mechanics of Elizabethan and Jacobean espionage” and noted that it is “anything but stodgy and over-long.” In the Literary Review, Peter Davidson praised the book as “excellent,” highlighting its accessible writing, deep research, clever illustrations, and readability. Harper’s Magazine’s Dan Piepenbring described it as “a diverting history and how-to manual.” Pippa Bailey of the New Statesman remarked that “Most enjoyable of all is the epilogue of instructions for invisible inks, codes and poisons.”
The Spectator’s Iona McLaren referred to Spycraft as “A companion piece to Akkerman’s acclaimed 2019 Invisible Agents,” observing that it “wears the weight of its impeccable learning even more lightly” as it moves through various espionage techniques. Jackie Eales of History Today stated that “Spycraft is not only a textual tour de force, but contains a wealth of explanatory images of the authors' recreations of locked letters and forged signature stamps.” Diarmaid MacCulloch in The Times Literary Supplement characterized the work as “a classic and incisive monograph,” grounded in solid primary sources yet engaging and informative. Lucy Wooding of the London Review of Books noted that “Akkerman and Langman make the case for the importance of studying material culture,” adding that “The book as a whole is imbued with a faint but detectable sense of professional pride.” The Economist selected it as one of the best books published in 2024. The book contains 368 pages.
Details
- Publisher
- Yale University Press
- ISBN
- 9780300267549
- Pages
- 368
