A Spy Amongst Us
Daniel Defoe's Secret Service and the Plot to End Scottish Independence
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Yale University Press
Publishing:10th Feb '26
£25.00
This title is due to be published on 10th February, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
The true story of Daniel Defoe and the dirty tricks which helped bring Scotland into union with England
In 1706, Edinburgh was on the brink of a popular uprising. Men and women took to the streets to protest the planned union with England, fearing the end of Scottish sovereignty. But unbeknownst to the mob, a spy was in their midst—the English writer Daniel Defoe, now bankrupt and thrice pilloried, had turned a government agent.
Marc Mierowsky tells the dramatic story of Defoe and his fellow spies as they sabotaged the Scottish independence movement from the inside. Together they disseminated propaganda and built a network of operatives from London to the upper Highlands, providing the English government with up-to-the-minute intelligence and monitoring its adversaries’ every move.
Through the lives of Defoe and his ring, their handlers, and opponents, Mierowsky guides us through this shadowy underworld of espionage and propaganda—revealing a disturbing and distinctly modern political campaign.
“An evocative and occasionally thrilling work of scholarship. Mierowsky is an expert guide to the labyrinthine underworld of early eighteenth-century espionage.”—Joseph Hone, author of The Book Forger: The True Story of a Literary Crime that Fooled the World
“This is not only a highly readable account of Defoe’s role as the hired gun of English imperialism during the Union crisis of 1706-7, it is also a good introduction to the dark arts used to make the Union happen. An excellent, and sobering, illustration of the way one man’s personal circumstances can play a vital role in altering the course of history.”—Daniel Szechi, author of 1715: The Great Jacobite Rebellion
“Full of original achievements. Mierowsky explores the minute wheels and gears of the accomplishment of the Scottish Union with England, and the network of agents and spies who drove them. The story of Defoe as a master of modern intelligence is highly readable.”—Paula Backscheider, author of Daniel Defoe: His Life
“An outstanding exposition of Harley’s spy network in Scotland and the importance of personal relationships to historical change.”—Murray Pittock, author of Scotland: The Global History
ISBN: 9780300260168
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
448 pages