by VIC MATUS: Speaking of conniving, scheming sorts, there's a new book on the life of Sir George Downing. Carson Becker reviews Cromwell's Spy: From the American Colonies to the English Civil War: The Life of George Downing by Dennis Sewell. https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3Flz!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F717ed9fe-e641-4b29-97b8-e3fe8acdbf98_695x491.jpeg “In England, Downing so impressed Oliver Cromwell that he appointed him head of military intelligence. On undercover missions in Scotland, he proved particularly good at this work. When the New Model Army marched into Edinburgh, Downing’s agents were already holed up in the castle with the last defenders, a prime position from which they facilitated the handover of the city. He was later trusted enough to be sent abroad, meeting with Europe’s leading statesmen, negotiating backroom deals, and, as always, gathering intelligence. “In 1660, with the Restoration of Charles II, Downing managed to not only keep his head while dozens of republicans and conspirators in the regicide of Charles I—his former friends and allies—were hunted down and brutally executed. He kept his prominent roles as envoy to The Hague and as Teller of the Exchequer. In some instances, it was Downing himself who did the hunting, exposing one nest of former allies and securing their rendition from Holland. He later managed to help secure New Amsterdam from the Dutch (a second Downing Street runs through New York’s Greenwich Village). “Downing emerges as a man riven with contradictions. He was at once a Puritan and deeply amoral. Fantastically wealthy, he was also incredibly tight fisted. In his old New England stomping grounds, ‘doing a George Downing’ became known for acts of particular treachery. Writing the better part of two centuries after his death, President John Adams would recall Downing as both a ‘dog’ and a ‘scoundrel.’ But the man adopted a pragmatism that solved many complicated problems to his country’s benefit. While not quite a full biography of the man, Sewell has made a gripping, impeccably literate study of one of England’s (and New England’s) forgotten sons. One might best judge Downing in remembering, ‘The civil war had a way of making double dealers out of even the most honest men and women.’” https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!3Flz!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F717ed9fe-e641-4b29-97b8-e3fe8acdbf98_695x491.jpeg