More of wot I have read...

A Very English Agent, by Julian Rathbone

This is a slightly odd story. Imagine James Bond - Licensed to Kill, but set in the 1800's. It is an interesting read but the constant references to historical events, twisted for the purposes of the story, is a little disturbing - but entertaining.

'December 1852. Shortly after the funeral of the Duke of Wellington, Charlie Boylan attempts to enter the Palace of Westminster with a loaded pistol in his pocket. He is owed, so he says, a substantial sum be the government department he has worked for over many years - an adjunct of the Home Office that specialises in subterfuge and espionage. Imprisoned in Pentonville, Charlie writes his extraordinary memoirs to prove has claims. In A Very English Agent, Julian Rathbone combines his uncanny talent for wit and adventure with a compelling portrait of an England that history often neglects: the dark embers of the ninteenth century, when repression was bloody, commonplace and orchestrated from on high.'