Elizabeth's Sea Dogs: How England's Mariners Became the Scourge of the Seas

Elizabeth's Sea Dogs: How England's Mariners Became the Scourge of the Seas
Hugh Bicheno (Author)
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Conway (8 Nov 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1844861740
ISBN-13: 9781844861743

Elizabeth's Sea Dogs investigates the rise and fall of a unique group of adventurers - men like Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Martin Frobisher and Walter Raleigh. Seen by the English as heroes but by the Spanish as pirates, they were expert seafarers and controversial characters. This riveting new account reveals them for what they were: extremely tough men in extremely hard times. They sailed, fought, looted and whored their way across the globe; in the process, they established a lasting British presence in the Americas, defeated the Spanish Armada, and made Queen Elizabeth I very wealthy, if seldom grateful. Author Hugh Bicheno sets the Sea Dogs in historical context and reveals their lives and exploits through diligent historical research incorporating contemporary testimony. With additional appendices, colour plates, the author's own maps and technical drawings, Elizabeth's Sea Dogs tells their vivid, extraordinary story as it was lived, in the author's trademark engaging style.