Drake: The Life and Legend of an Elizabethan Hero

London, United Kingdom: Pocket Books, 2005. New book, 337 pages. Was Sir Francis Drake a rabid anti-papist, a state sponsored terrorist and slaver? Or was he the embodiment of English sang-froid, an empire builder and hero? He was certianly the most dashing of the many ambitious seamen to serve Queen Elizabeth I, in an age when the world seemed there for the taking. For a God-fearing Protestant of good yoeman stock, turning the high seas into an English lake seemed nothing less than a birthright - especially if the only people in one's way were Catholics. Vividly re-creating the key episodes in the construction of the Drake legend, from the West Indies voyages to the Nombre de Dios expedition, the Armada, and of course, the extraordinary circumnavigation. Coote shows how Drake's reputation was made and challenged, and eventually manipulated in the centuries following his death. . Soft Cover. As New. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.