WINNER OF THE HISTORICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION NON-FICTION CROWNAS HEARD ON BBC RADIO 4'Fabulous, timely, a marvellous achievement' Spectator'A richly resonant work which recasts our understanding of the Elizabethan era' Daily TelegraphIn 1570, after plots and assassination attempts against her, Elizabeth I was excommunicated by the Pope. It was the beginning of cultural, economic and political exchanges with the Islamic world of a depth not again experienced until the modern age.