Espionage, Diplomacy & the Lodge is one of Ric Berman's most important works. The book unveils Charles Delafaye, one of eighteenth-century Britain's least known but most influential figures, a senior under-secretary of state, investigating magistrate, anti-Jacobite spymaster and leading freemason. Delafaye was a member of the elite Horn Tavern lodge in London and at the centre of the government's inner circle for some two decades. He was also a key conduit for intelligence from the Secret Department of the Post Office and the decrypters and code-breakers within its deciphering branch, and central to the measures taken against the supporters of James Stuart, 'the king over the water'. Berman provides a unique glimpse into Britain's early secret intelligence service and outlines for the first time the interconnections between freemasonry, espionage and diplomacy.About the Author: Dr Richard (Ric) Berman is the author of The Foundations of Modern Freemasonry; Schism, a discussion of the origins of Antients Freemasonry; and Espionage, Diplomacy & the Lodge. His work on American freemasonry includes Loyalists & Malcontents, now in its second edition, which looks at the origins of freemasonry in South Carolina and Georgia, and From Roanoke to Raleigh, which takes a fresh look at how freemasonry developed in North Carolina. Ric holds a Masters in Economics from the University of Cambridge and a Doctorate in History from the University of Exeter. He continued his research at the University of Oxford's Modern European History Research Centre and is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University. Ric was appointed Prestonian Lecturer for 2016 and his lecture - published and now in its second edition, sets the context for the 300th anniversary of the Grand Lodge of England. Born in London, Ric lives with his family in Oxfordshire.