A FASCINATING history of plotting, intrigue and espionage is brought to life in the latest work by a Cuddington author.

In her non-fiction book 'Regency Spies', Sue Wilkes has revealed a world of starvation and struggle for influence, with fear of discovery and death around every corner.

"It was a very exciting time - one of the most exciting periods in our history," said the mum-of-two.

'Regency Spies' is Sue's eighth book and focuses on the shadowy world of Britain's spies, rebels and secret societies from the late 1780s to 1820.

The upper classes feared rebellion on the scale of the French revolution as the lower classes pushed for political reform.

"The workers got very angry and frustrated when there were hard times," she said.

"We were at war with the French, there was a succession of bad harvests and trade was bad at times because of the war.

"People started to think that the only way they could improve their lives was if they could get some parliamentary representation.

"But because we were at war with the French, which had just had a revolution, the government and the landed gentry believed if they introduced any sort of reform whatsoever this was a most wicked idea and the king would go.

"People were genuinely afraid that the workers would start rising up and attack the Tower of London and the Bank of England and there would be blood in the streets.

"Any hint of agitating for reform was taken very seriously by the government."

The government introduced a network of spies, employed by the Home Office and local magistrates.

"Because of the spy system the government was able to keep an eye on every important plot going on," Sue said.

"One of the questions of this period is why we didn't have a French revolution here even though people were so poor, they were starving.

"One of the reasons could well be because the government's spy system was so good that anyone likely to cause any trouble was charged and either shipped off to Australia or hanged."

Life was just as dangerous for the spies themselves, some of which even acted as agents provocateur so that they had something to report back to their masters.

Sue said: "The working classes really hated the spies and if you were found out as a spy you were in real danger."

Some families were forced to move away from their homes, and there are other dark stories of murder lurking in the history of the period.

Sue draws on contemporary literature and official records to tell the stories of conspirators and the unwitting victims sent to the gallows.

Sue studied physics at Oxford and started writing non-fiction 20 years ago.

Her books focus on social and industrial history and she has had a particular interest in the Regency period since her parents gave her a copy of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' as a child.

She has lived in Cuddington since 1997, is a member of the Society of Authors and is also a creative writing tutor specialising in non-fiction.

'Regency Spies' is available on Amazon or on the publisher's website pen-and-sword.co.uk.

For more information about Sue visit her blog at suewilkes.blogspot.com.