Sir Francis Drake

Four hundred years after his death, Sir Francis Drake remains one of the most legendary figures of history. His 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 circumnavigated 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 survival between Protestant England and Catholic Spain, in which he became Elizabeth I's most prominent admiral. His exploits marked the emergence of England as a major maritime nation. Here is a complex man of fascinating contradictions. Ambitious, profit-seeking, vainglorious and sometimes vindictive, he was also a loyal and generous friend, a lover of children, and a warrior of surprising humanity and courtesy. John Sugden gives us the most comprehensive and astute biography of Drake ever written.