Sir Francis Drake

by John Sugden

Overview

How well do you know the life of one of Britain’s great maritime heroes?

Discover the truth behind a man who remains a legendary figure of history more than four hundred years after his death.

Sir Francis Drake’s career is one of the most colourful on record. The most daring of the corsairs who raided the West Indies and Spanish Main, he led the English into the Pacific, and cirumnavigated the world to bring home the Golden Hind laden with Spanish treasure. His attacks on Spanish cities and ships transformed his private war into a struggle for surivival between Protestant England and Catholic Spain, in which he became Elizabeth I's most prominent admiral and marked the emergence of England as major maritime nation.

‘Excellent...It deserves to become the standard Drake life. His scholarship is impeccable’ Frank McLynn, Sunday Telegraph

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781448129508
Publisher:	Random House
Publication date:	04/24/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	201,690
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Dr John Sugden has pursued a busy trans-Atlantic career as a lecturer, senior research fellow and writer. He is the author of a series of acclaimed articles and books, including Tecumseh: A Life, which won the Distinguished Book Award of the American Society for Military History, and Blue Jacket, which won the Ohioana Award, Nelson: A Dream of Glory, and, most recently, Nelson: Sword of Albion.

Editorial Reviews

Circumnavigator of the globe, naval nemesis of Philip II of Spain, Sir Francis Drake (1543?-1596) personified England's coming-of-age as a sea power. In this long-overdue biography (there has been no major treatment of Drake in memory), Sugden ( Tecumseh's Last Stand ) incorporates into his lively narrative fresh information about Drake's family, his slave-trading expeditions to the West Indies, his command of English sea forces against Ireland, his hit-and-run raids on the Spanish main and his leading role in the defeat of the Armada. The book includes a gripping account of Drake's 1577-1580 voyage around the world and his audacious challenge to the Spanish (the author points out that King Philip's naval resources were roughly six times those of Elizabethan England), culminating in his preemptive strike at Cadiz in 1587 and his decisive action against the Armada in the English Channel a year later. Drake's nonmaritime deeds receive equal treatment in these pages: as vigorous social climber, businessman and parliamentarian. No armchair admiral will want to miss this one. Illustrations. (Mar.)

EBOOK COMMENTARY

Circumnavigator of the globe, naval nemesis of Philip II of Spain, Sir Francis Drake (1543?-1596) personified England's coming-of-age as a sea power. In this long-overdue biography (there has been no major treatment of Drake in memory), Sugden ( Tecumseh's Last Stand ) incorporates into his lively narrative fresh information about Drake's family, his slave-trading expeditions to the West Indies, his command of English sea forces against Ireland, his hit-and-run raids on the Spanish main and his leading role in the defeat of the Armada. The book includes a gripping account of Drake's 1577-1580 voyage around the world and his audacious challenge to the Spanish (the author points out that King Philip's naval resources were roughly six times those of Elizabethan England), culminating in his preemptive strike at Cadiz in 1587 and his decisive action against the Armada in the English Channel a year later. Drake's nonmaritime deeds receive equal treatment in these pages: as vigorous social climber, businessman and parliamentarian. No armchair admiral will want to miss this one. Illustrations. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly