Afterword

Edwards

Those familiar with the literature on the Gunpowder Plot will recognize that I am following the interpretation espoused most strongly by Francis Edwards, S.J., particularly as it is presented in his last, posthumously published, book The Enigma of Gunpowder Plot, 1605: The Third Solution.

Obviously, as a Jesuit, Edwards started with certain interests in mind as he researched the campaign which directly targeted Catholics, martyred the Jesuit superior in England and resulted in the extermination of the Catholic hierarchy in England for over 200 years. But I think it would be a serious error to prejudge his work on that account. Edwards' writings display the highest level of scholarship: his knowledge of the historical period is exhaustive, his analytical arguments are precise, and the amount of evidence, historical and documentary, that he presents to the reader is overwhelming.

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