The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 is one of the most commemorated events in English history, but remains shrouded in mystery. The central aim of his account is to explain why there should have been a plot at all, and why the conspirators risked their lives for what they believed to be the cause of God and their country. The narrative reads like a detective story as Antonia Fraser sets with sympathy and objectivity to untangle the intricate relationship between religion and politics in early-17th-century England.