Title: The Audacious Crimes of Colonel Blood
Author: Robert Hutchinson
Hutchinson, Robert (2016). The Audacious Crimes of Colonel Blood : The Spy Who Stole The Crown Jewels And Became The King’s Secret Agent. New York : Pegasus Books
OCLC: 951550909
DA447.B5 H88 2016
| Subjects | |
| Contents: | Capture the castle — Escape and evasion — A taste for conspiracy — A friend in need — An incident in St James’s — The most audacious crime — A royal pardon — Coming in from the cold — The ways of the Lord — Epilogue. |
Date Posted: October 21, 2016
Reviewed in The Intellligencer[1]
The story of a double agent and Irish rogue in King Charles II’s court. In May 1671, a man disguised as a parson attempted to seize the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London and managed to escape before being apprehended. He was not executed for treason. Instead, the king granted him a generous income and he became a familiar strutting figure in the royal court’s glittering state apartments. He was Colonel Thomas Blood, a notorious turncoat and fugitive from justice. The king decided Blood was more useful to him alive than dead serving as his personal spy; however, Blood enjoyed conspiring with his enemies.
[1] The Intelligencer: Journal of U.S. Intelligence Studies (22, 2, Spring 2016, p. 139). Hayden Peake is the Curator of the CIA’s Historical Intelligence Collection. He has served in the Directorate of Science and Technology and the Directorate of Operations. Most of these reviews appeared in recent unclassified editions of CIA’s Studies in Intelligence, Other reviews and articles may be found online at http://www.cia.gov
