An addictive and exciting puzzle book based on 500 years of British espionage history, drawn direct from the catalogues of The National Archives.

The fates of nations, outcomes of wars and general sweep of history have often hinged upon the deciphering of devilishly difficult codes and devious deceptions by spymasters. In Spydle, The National Archives and Britain’s leading puzzle masterminds, Dr Gareth Moore and Laura Jayne Ayres, have drawn on five centuries of British spycraft and cryptography to compile an unputdownable history of real-life codebreaking and espionage through a series of addictive puzzles. Using original documents, maps, ciphers, plans, letters and telegrams from plots and espionage relating to Mary, Queen of Scots, the Gunpowder Plot, Mata Hari, Agent Zigzag and dozens more, Spydle’s puzzles are based on real codes and conundrums.

Packed with fiendish puzzles covering over 500 years of espionage, could you be a code-cracking spymaster and untangle history’s most cryptic mysteries? Play Spydle to find out . . .