Realm

by James H. Jackson Book 2 in the Christian Hardy series.

First published 2010

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3.7(41)

In 1588, the Spanish Armada assembles at Lisbon while the Duke of Parma’s army waits in the Low Countries to cross into England. Sir Francis Walsingham discovers that his intelligence network is failing as agents vanish and reports from the Continent cease. He sends Christian Hardy into enemy territory to learn what has happened before Philip II’s invasion plan can be put into motion.

Hardy enters a world of informers, renegades, torture and religious persecution, confronting the Spanish Inquisition and betrayal among England’s own servants. His mission links clandestine murder to the movement of the fleet itself. With Elizabeth I’s throne and the survival of Protestant England at stake, he must bring the information home before the Armada reaches the Channel.

The intelligence failure matters because England cannot match Spain’s resources ship for ship and depends on knowing when and where the invasion will move. Walsingham’s network therefore functions as part of national defence alongside Drake’s fleet and the coastal militias. Hardy’s mission makes espionage a practical military necessity rather than a secondary court intrigue.