Sir, J. R Edwards is entirely correct in his assertion that Sir Francis Walsingham was Britain’s first real spymaster (letter, July 9).
His reports, however, were confided to Elizabeth I’s ?minence grise, Lord Burghley, rather than Sir Francis Drake. The serpentine Walsingham can also claim dubious credit for pioneering the notion of concentration camps – obdurate Catholics were imprisoned in Wisbech Castle, Cambridgeshire.
That said, some historians rank him alongside Nelson and Winston Churchill for his role in preserving Britain’s singular national identity.
ROBERT RANDELL, London SE26