Little Gaddesden is full of hidden secrets. It has been home to a witch, a radical poet, a Cold War spy, and a Lord Chancellor fleeing from an unhappy marriage. The man who built the Manor House was related to the Gunpowder plotters, a later resident led a Kenyan rebellion against the Crown, and the first medical text book ever printed in Britain was written by someone who lived in Church road. Among its memorials is one to the woman who provoked the Battle of Berkhamsted Common. Roger Bolton reveals the passionate histories that lie behind the village's deceptively calm facade.