The Last Armada: Queen Elizabeth, Juan del �guila, and Hugh O'Neill: The Story of the 100-Day Spanish Invasion
The story of the last great naval battle between England and Spain, evoking a number of colorful and dangerous personalities who fought in the climactic conclusion to these two countries’ great rivalry on the sea.

Ireland: Christmas Eve, 1601.

As thunder crashes and lightning rakes the sky, three very different commanders line up for a battle that will decide the fate of a nation. General Juan del Águila has been sprung from a prison cell to command the last great Spanish armada. His mission: to seize a bridgehead in Queen Elizabeth's England and hold it.

Facing him is Charles Blount, a brilliant English strategist whose career is also under a cloud. His affair with a married woman edged him into a treasonous conspiracy—and brought him to within a hair’s breadth of the gallows.

Meanwhile, Irish insurgent Hugh O’Neill knows that this is his final chance to drive the English out of Ireland. For each man, this is the last throw of the dice. Tomorrow they will be either heroes or failures.

These colorful commanders come alive in this true story of courage and endurance, of bitterness and betrayal, and of drama and intrigue at the highest levels in the courts of England and Spain.
1141098244
The Last Armada: Queen Elizabeth, Juan del �guila, and Hugh O'Neill: The Story of the 100-Day Spanish Invasion
The story of the last great naval battle between England and Spain, evoking a number of colorful and dangerous personalities who fought in the climactic conclusion to these two countries’ great rivalry on the sea.

Ireland: Christmas Eve, 1601.

As thunder crashes and lightning rakes the sky, three very different commanders line up for a battle that will decide the fate of a nation. General Juan del Águila has been sprung from a prison cell to command the last great Spanish armada. His mission: to seize a bridgehead in Queen Elizabeth's England and hold it.

Facing him is Charles Blount, a brilliant English strategist whose career is also under a cloud. His affair with a married woman edged him into a treasonous conspiracy—and brought him to within a hair’s breadth of the gallows.

Meanwhile, Irish insurgent Hugh O’Neill knows that this is his final chance to drive the English out of Ireland. For each man, this is the last throw of the dice. Tomorrow they will be either heroes or failures.

These colorful commanders come alive in this true story of courage and endurance, of bitterness and betrayal, and of drama and intrigue at the highest levels in the courts of England and Spain.
16.95 In Stock
The Last Armada: Queen Elizabeth, Juan del �guila, and Hugh O'Neill: The Story of the 100-Day Spanish Invasion

The Last Armada: Queen Elizabeth, Juan del �guila, and Hugh O'Neill: The Story of the 100-Day Spanish Invasion

by Des Ekin
The Last Armada: Queen Elizabeth, Juan del �guila, and Hugh O'Neill: The Story of the 100-Day Spanish Invasion

The Last Armada: Queen Elizabeth, Juan del �guila, and Hugh O'Neill: The Story of the 100-Day Spanish Invasion

by Des Ekin

Paperback(Reprint)

$16.95 
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Overview

The story of the last great naval battle between England and Spain, evoking a number of colorful and dangerous personalities who fought in the climactic conclusion to these two countries’ great rivalry on the sea.

Ireland: Christmas Eve, 1601.

As thunder crashes and lightning rakes the sky, three very different commanders line up for a battle that will decide the fate of a nation. General Juan del Águila has been sprung from a prison cell to command the last great Spanish armada. His mission: to seize a bridgehead in Queen Elizabeth's England and hold it.

Facing him is Charles Blount, a brilliant English strategist whose career is also under a cloud. His affair with a married woman edged him into a treasonous conspiracy—and brought him to within a hair’s breadth of the gallows.

Meanwhile, Irish insurgent Hugh O’Neill knows that this is his final chance to drive the English out of Ireland. For each man, this is the last throw of the dice. Tomorrow they will be either heroes or failures.

These colorful commanders come alive in this true story of courage and endurance, of bitterness and betrayal, and of drama and intrigue at the highest levels in the courts of England and Spain.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781681773520
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Publication date: 04/11/2017
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 420
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Des Ekin is a historian and journalist. After spending several years covering the Ulster Troubles, he rose to become Deputy Editor of the Belfast Sunday News. He worked as a journalist, columnist, and finally Political Correspondent for The Sunday World until 2012. His book The Stolen Village was shortlisted for the Argosy Irish Nonfiction Book of the Year and for Book of the Decade in the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards. He lives in Dublin.

Table of Contents

Preface 13

A Note on the Text 19

1 Tinker, Tailor … Soldier 21

2 'Haste, Haste, for Your Life' 33

3 The Man Born without Fear 40

4 'For God, All Difficulties Must Be Overcome' 51

5 Sailing to God or the Devil 61

6 The Invasion 71

7 'I Will Never See My Homeland Again' 79

8 Trust in God and Keep Your Powder Wet 85

9 'Iacta Est Alea - The Die Is Cast' 95

10 Curses Like Thunderbolts 105

11 The Lord of Beara and Bantry 115

12 Confessions and Conspiracies 121

13 'Crested Plumes and Silken Sashes' 129

14 Digging for Victory 133

15 The Taking of Rinjora Castle 137

16 'The Most Bloody and Treacherous Traitor' 151

17 There Will Be No Retreat 157

18 Cold as Stone, Dark as Pitch 161

19 Stella and the Centaur 167

20 That Wondrous Winter March 172

21 A Direct Hit on Don Juan 181

22 Hell at Spaniards' Point 187

23 'Let Us Settle This in Single Combat' 195

24 The Battle of Castlehaven 207

25 'Send Us Home Some Greyhounds' 211

26 The Great Persuader 223

27 'They Died by Dozens on a Heap' 230

28 A Meeting in the Fastness of Wood and Water 238

29 'My Lord, It Is Time to Arm' 249

30 'The Day of Trial': The Battle of Kinsale 262

31 Wondering Why 277

32 Honourable Terms, or a Thousand Deaths 285

33 'A Barbarous Nation for Which Christ Never Died' 299

34 Dossier of Treason 305

35 A Dead Juan Walking 313

36 The Trial 322

37 The Aftermath 332

38 Legacy 343

Bibliography and Recommended Reading 351

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