The Nine Lives of John Ogilby
John Ogilby went through nine careers at the heart of Stuart Britain’s dramatic and violent upheavals. Starting out as a child pedlar, his astonishing combination of luck and charm helped him make (and lose) three fortunes apparently without ever making an enemy. He was dancer, poet, publisher (the first crowd-funding publisher), Master of the Revels in Ireland and impressario. His final project, when he was over 70, was to create from scratch the first national road atlas.
This book turns out to be the key to a major turning-point in British history, in a plot concerning a secret treaty, an invasion plan, a Royal mistress and a sinister eminence grise with a black patch on his nose. It involves sex, religion, money and the secret service.
