Invisible Agents

A compelling history of women in seventeenth century espionage, telling the forgotten tales of women from all walks of life who acted as spies in early modern Britain.

Nadine Akkerman has immersed herself in archives and letter collections, acting as a modern-day spymistress to unearth plots and conspiracies that have long been hidden by history.

Introduction: Invisible Agents, She-Intelligencers, or Spies Invisible by Birth; 1 Ciphered Pillow Talk with Charles I in Prison, 1646-1649: 'intrigues, which at that time could be best managed and carried on by ladies'; 2 The Credibility and Archival Silence of She-Intelligencers: Women on the Council of State's Payroll; 3 Susan Hyde.

a Spy's Gendered Fate Punishment: Hide and Seek the Sealed Knot; 4:I Elizabeth Murray, Loyal Subject, Lover or Double Agent?

: Rumour, Hearsay and the Sins of the Father; 4:II Elizabeth Murray's Continental Foray: Incompetence, Invisible Inks, and Internal Wrangling; 5 Elizabeth Carey, Lady Mordaunt: The 'Enigma' of the Great Trust; 6 Anne, Lady Halkett's 'True Accountt': A Married Woman Is Never to Blame; 7 Aphra Behn's Letters from Antwerp, July 1666-April 1667: Intelligence Reports or Epistolary Fiction?

; Epilogue: Invisibility and Blanck Marshall, the Nameless and Genderless Agent; Bibliography; Index