"Sir, this is a really bad idea, " said Whittaker.

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Probably not, though by the lights of 15th-century Europe he was not a particularly bad one, and if Sir Peter muddies what has been till now a fairly spotless reputation, he nevertheless presents a far more fascinating man in a superbly written and thought-provoking book.

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But you wouldn't want to make this story up if it weren't rooted in reality, because Tony's plan is, before anything else, utterly preposterous as well as inventive and wildly daring: "This is the best bad idea we have, sir, " his superior, Jack O'Donnell (Bryan Cranston), tells the CIA's director in a meeting at Langley headquarters.

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It was Mr Rowland's bad luck that he was the target of one of Sir Edward's few memorable phrases, and one that was continually used against him.

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