I would like to thank Her Majesty the Queen for allowing me access to the Royal Archives at Windsor Castle and for giving me permission to quote from them. At the same time I must thank the archivists and librarians there for their assistance.
Thanks are also due to the Trustees of the British Library, and especially to the staff of the Rare Books, Humanities and Manuscripts departments, during the nearly three years that I researched and wrote this biography. The Bodleian also provided important assistance, especially the staff in Duke Humfrey’s Library.
I am similarly grateful to the Fellows of the Royal Society for access to their records. Other archivists — including those of the University of Oxford; of Magdalen College, Oxford; and of Belvoir Castle — also gave useful advice. A wide range of county archivists were similarly helpful.
Dr Tim Connor kindly read through my completed final draft and thankfully spotted a couple of ‘howlers’ (he was my tutor at school and is now a friend — but his terminology for my more monstrous mistakes has not changed in 25 years). Any mistakes that remain are entirely my responsibility.
I would also like to thank Ian Drury and Keith Lowe, from my publishers, for their enthusiasm and editorial input.