Dustwrapper blurb:
"John Dee was an authority on mathematics, navigation, astronomy and optics, as well as being Astrologer Royal to Elizabeth I. In the eyes of many of his contemporaries he was also a charlatan, imposter and dabbler in Black Magic. Here, Richard Deacon tries to balance the record by revealing the many gifts of this remarkable scholar and the patriotic service he gave his country.
It is a difficult task: the problem with John Dee lies not so much in relating what he did but in interpreting his actions and explaining his motives. For Dee thought and often wrote in the strange language of the Cabbalists and developed the Enochian Alphabet to create a secret code of his own. Among many things, Deacon examines the theory that Dee used this code, as well as the “angelic visions” he claimed were seen by his assistant, Edward Kelley, as a cover for espionage and concealing secret information. Certainly it seems that John Dee was a roving secret agent of genius who won his way into the confidence of the crowned heads of Europe and helped Elizabeth thwart the Spanish Armada.
The life of John Dee is a story of extraordinary enterprise, and is compiled with the same resourceful authenticity that made the author’s 'Madoc' and the Discovery of America' such a well-received work."