FROM MERCILESS INVADERS: The Defeat of the Spanish Armada.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,2nd edn.[True 1st edn was published 1963,this edn completely revised,reset and with additional material.] VG+/NFINE.No owner inscrptn,but price-clip to dw/dj.Bright, crisp,clean,glossy,colour pictorial illustrated dw/dj; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - tiny nicks to top+bottom corners of upper wrap and to bottom corner of rear wrap.Head+foot of spine/backstrip minimally bumped with reciprocal creasing.Top+fore-edges very lightly aged and sporadically foxed/spotted; contents bright,tight and clean - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners - an unread copy? Publisher's bright,clean,original,plain dark brown cloth boards with crisp,bright,blocked gilt letters to spine/ backstrip and b/w map endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj, 2nd edn,9-288pp [paginated] includes prefaces to 1st+2nd editions,22 chapters,16pp of contemporary b/w illus/ photographs,in 4 blocks of 4pp apiece,between pp96/7, pp128/9,pp160/1 and pp192/3 respectively,3 b/w line illus,list of witnesses,sources,an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,separate contents+illus lists/tables.
The overthrow of the Spanish Armada in 1588 has come down in history as one of England's 'finest hours'.A small, inadequately equipped fleet put to rout the mightiest naval force ever assembled; great squadrons of ships, drawn from all the provinces of the Spanish empire,were sent scuttling in disarray round the north of Scotland,many to founder on the on the shores of Ireland.The great enterprise,four years in the planning,that was to have subjugated the impertinent little kingdom of Elizabeth I,ended in a crushing humiliation for the world's most powerful ruler.
Alexander McKee has gone back to the original eye-witness accounts to throw new light on this apparent miracle,presenting a dramatic reconstruction described by those who actually took part in the campaign,on both sides.The result is living history,a reassessment that reveals many parallels with the critical summer of 1940.With the freshness of last night's news,four-hundred-year-old voices speak to us of armies massing on the coast of the Low Countries; of the bumbling incompetence that eventually brought the cumbersome Armada,by fits and false starts,within sight of England; of swift and devastating assaults by the nippy little English galleons; of the panic-stricken flight into the North Sea; and of hardship and death and,throughout the action,a desperate need for more ammunition and food.Seen as a vivid documentary,the reasons why the deadly threat of Spain collapsed in ruins are thrown into high relief.
First published 25 years ago,this new edition is substantially rewritten and includes an additional chapter on the significant discoveries now being made on the wrecks.There are new photographs,and the book is presented in a handsome larger format.Written by the discoverer and excavator of the 'Mary Rose',an historian who has spent most of his life on the South Coast and is therefore well able to understand the eccentricities of wind and current that Drake and Hawkyns used to such good effect,this fresh and lively approach to a crucial event in our history remains an outstanding contribution to the study of naval warfare.
Please contact seller,because of the weight/ value of this item,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!
N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.
** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **