Lady Anne Bacon was a highly educated woman who lived through the great political and religious transitions of five reigns and was embedded in the network of power at the Tudor court. Her intelligence and education took her far beyond the limits of the domestic sphere and she was caught up in pivotal events, including the crisis at the accession of Mary I and the reform of the Church of England under Edward VI and Elizabeth I. Yet, like many women, her place in the historical record remains shadowy and few today have heard of her. Drawing on her subject’s forthright letters and other contemporary sources, Deborah Spring’s deeply researched and compellingly readable book reveals Anne Bacon’s extraordinary part in shaping the public story of Tudor history.