Rose, Alexander 1971-

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Rose, Alexander 1971-

PERSONAL:

Born 1971. Education: Cambridge University, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY.

CAREER:

Writer and historian.

WRITINGS:

Kings in the North: The House of Percy in British History, Weidenfeld & Nicolson (London, England), 2002.

Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to newspapers and periodicals, including the New York Observer and the Washington Post.

SIDELIGHTS:

Historian and author Alexander Rose holds a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, where he conducted research on political and scientific history. In his first book, Kings in the North: The House of Percy in British History, Rose narrates the dynastic history of the Percy barons and earls of Northumberland between 1066 and 1485. "One of the greatest and most powerful of late-medieval England's nobility, the Percy family can hardly be separated from the main narrative of late-medieval English politics," observed Montgomery Bohna in Albion. Beginning with the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, Rose recounts a total of almost 500 years of Percy family history, outlines their family origins, their prominence during the Middle Ages, and notes the contributions they made to the evolution of Britain. Bohna reacted positively to Rose's "comprehensive account," remarking that "if not a work of academic scholarship, it is an impressive work of genuine scholarship nonetheless." A Contemporary Review critic concluded that "this is a good example of the type of book we need more of."

Rose examines a little-explored topic in his next book, Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring. He provides a detailed accounting of the role that spying and covert operations played in the Revolutionary War, portraying George Washington as an expert in secret operations and intelligence gathering. "Indeed, Washington's first act as commander of the Continental Army was to launch a disinformation campaign," noted reviewer Arthur Herman in the National Review. Washington, Rose notes, was a pioneer in the use of invisible ink, double agents, coded messages, and other elements of espionage. Rose investigates the origins and actions of the Culper Ring, the intelligence network established by Washington and his chief spy, Benjamin Tallmadge. The individuals who made up the Culper Ring were, in most cases, already dubious characters living on the edge of society, but Tallmadge "wove these disparate characters into an effective espionage operation," Herman stated. A Publishers Weekly contributor called Rose's story "compelling in its descriptions of occupied New York, where patriots and loyalists lived together in an uneasy balance." Herman called the work a "fascinating and carefully crafted book."