The Double Life of Doctor Lopez : Spies, Shakespeare and the Plot to Poison Elizabeth I

by Dominic Green

Born a crypto-Jew in Portugal in 1525, Roderigo Lopez studied medicine in Spain before moving to London in 1559. A talented surgeon, Lopez soon rose to prominence at court, displaying a capacity for intrigue and espionage. In the service of spy networks, he became deeply entwined in English foreign policy. When the 1st Earl of Essex was poisoned to death, Lopez numbered amongs those suspected. But in 1586, undeterred by the scandal, he was appointed personal physician to the Queen. However, Lopez was financially over-extended and became so desperate he embarked on a high-risk enterprise as freelance diplomat and spymaster, contacting the Spanish in an attempt to se up peace talks. Suspicious of Lopez, the 2nd Earl of Essex began an investigation. The case against Lopez was damning with stories of botched abortions and murder, sa houses and mail drops, double agents and triple identities. Lacking vital corroboration of his story by the Spanish, and despite the Queen's support, amidst an atmosphere of anti-Semitism stirred up by Essex, Lopez was hung drawn and quartered in 1594. He protested his loyalty and Christianity to the last, and provided the young Shakespeare with inspiration for a topical new play.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Shakespeare

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

British writer and musician (b. 1970)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_...


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There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 2 out of 5]

A poorly written account of an interesting life. In many places, the English suggests that it is written by a non-native speaker of the language, not by someone whose Wikipedia entry tells me read English Literature at Oxford. "Apocryphal" is not a synonym for "archetypal", nor is "grousing" for "carousing"; mutilating the phrase "wheeler-dealer" to "wheeler of deals" removes both impact and meaning. Examples such as these made me wonder whether the history was also at fault, though it was on the surface far more convincing (except for his suggestion for the derivation for "full monty" as a phrase used by English speaking players of the Spanish card game monte).

[Jane · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book sounded like it was going to be really interesting, but it turned out to be very different from what I thought it would be like. There's a little bit of background on Lopez, and then the book launches into a continuous, full-scale distillation of the politics between Portugal, Spain and England at the time (with the Low Countries thrown for added thrills).

Did not finish - I think I was maybe about 1/3 of the way through.

If there WAS a plot to poison Elizabeth, I didn't have the time or energy to wade through the rest of the book to find out. The writing was a complete slog.

Other irritants - constant references between Lopez's life and Shakespeare's plays, particularly Merchant of Venice, followed by pages of extrapolation. Extremely repetitive regarding the plot of this play, other versions of the same story, and pre-Shakespeare iterations of the story. Seriously, I GET IT that there are similarities and I GET IT that Lopez was Jewish; I don't want/need to be beaten about the head regarding it.

Could not possibly recommend unless you live to dissect the minutiae of the politics of the time and would enjoy conspiracy-story-style comparisons between Merchant of Venice and other similar tales. Very disappointing.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wat een warboel van spionage, contra spionage en contra contra spionage. Het geeft niet bepaald een mooi beeld van de entourage van koningin Elisabeth.

[Chiefdonkey Bradey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very very clever, stylishly written and yet deeply researched view of Elizabethan faction politics and espionage, as full of double, treble and quadruple dealing as any spook could wish for!