John Coopers engrossing and delightful study recovers for us an extraordinary building hidden in plain sight within the footprint of the Houses of Parliament: medieval Englands answer to Pariss spectacular Sainte Chapelle, transformed by the Tudors into the arena in which our modern Parliamentary state gradually took shape. Cooper brings to life its lost splendours, and guides us through what remains from its fiery destruction, with scholarship and wit. * Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, University of Oxford * Superbly researched and flowing... The Lost Chapel of Westminster traces the long history of St Stephens Chapel and how, even after the great fire of 1834, Charles Barry and Giles Gilbert Scott ensured that features of it were incorporated in the rebuilt Chamber of the House of Commons. Coopers book is an important tribute to a national legacy which will appeal to the general reader as well as being an important source for scholars. * Sir Malcolm Jack, historian, author and former clerk of the House of Commons * A captivating, scholarly and endlessly fascinating story that goes beyond the iconic building at its focus and charts the history of a nation. * Tracy Borman * Admirable * Literary Review * Erudite and entertaining * The TLS * Fascinating * The Telegraph * Consistently engaging ... The text fizzes with insight and tells a fascinating story. * Church Times * PRAISE FOR THE QUEEN'S AGENT:
'A superb new account... Brilliantly recreates Elizabethan England in all its cloak-and-dagger intrigue and glory' Sunday Telegraph.
Fascinating... John Cooper neither vilifies nor lionises his subject, preferring to set his actions in context' Literary Review.
'Walsingham emerges as a severe, complex and haunted character in this compelling biography' Sunday Telegraph.
'A book for the library of any Tudor enthusiast' Philippa Gregory.
'As thrilling and suspenseful as any modern spy novel' * Publishers Weekly *
