The Gunpowder Plot Deceit

Martyn R. Beardsley

• Publisher: Pen & Sword History
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN:
  9781526725691
• Print ISBN:
  9781526751423
• Subtopic: British History

Most people think they know the story of the Gunpowder Plot, and of how a bloody catastrophe was averted at the eleventh hour when Guy Fawkes was caught lurking in the shadows beneath the Houses of Parliament.But what if it wasnt like that at all? How was it that a group of prominent, disaffected Catholics were able to plot for months with apparent impunity? How could they openly rent a house next door to the House of Lords and use it as their base right under the nose of the leading spymaster of the age, Robert Cecil? How could they have hacked a tunnel towards their target and dispose of tonnes of spoil without alerting anyone and why is there no record of anyone ever having seen such a tunnel?This book explores the idea that the government was not only aware of what the plotters were up to long before Fawkes arrest, but that agent-provocateurs may have given them a helping hand or have even instigated the plot themselves.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Author’s Note
• Chapter 1: The Background
• Chapter 2: The Plotters
• Chapter 3: The Jesuits and Supporters
• Chapter 4: The Official Story
• Chapter 5: The Scene of the Crime
• Chapter 6: Spymasters, Subterfuge & Set-Ups
• Chapter 7: The Monteagle Letter
• Chapter 8: The Arrest of Guy Fawkes
• Chapter 9: The Published Confessions: Guy Fawkes
• Chapter 10: The Published Confessions: The Declaration of Thomas Wintour, 23 November 1605
• Chapter 11: The Subsequent Arrests
• Chapter 12: Trial
• Chapter 13: Consequences
• Chapter 14: Verdict
• Appendix A: King James’ Speech To Parliament Regarding the Plot
• Appendix B: Extracts from the King’s Book
• Bibliography
• Notes
• Plate section