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After the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, Protestant England was beset by the hostile Catholic powers of Europe, including Spain. In October 1585, King Philip II of Spain declared his intention to destroy Protestant England and began preparing invasion plans, leading to an intense intelligence war between the two countries and culminating in the dramatic sea battles of 1588.
Popular history dictates that the defeat of the Spanish Armada was a David versus Goliath victory, snatched by plucky and outnumbered English forces. In this tightly written and fascinating new history, Robert Hutchinson explodes this myth, revealing the true destroyers of the Spanish Armada - inclement weather and bad luck. Of the 125 Spanish ships that set sail against England, only 60 limped home, the rest wrecked or sank with barely a shot fired from their main armament.
In this dramatic hour-by-hour, blow-by-blow account of the Spanish Armada's attempt to destroy Elizabeth's England, Hutchinson spins a compelling and unbelievable narrative. Using everything from contemporary eyewitness accounts to papers held by the national archives in Spain and the United Kingdom, Robert Hutchinson re-creates one of history's most famous episodes in an entirely new way.
"Starred Review. Contemporary readers will certainly enjoy this outstanding contribution...Those with fond memories of Garrett Mattingly's classic The Armada (1959) will discover an equally enthralling successor." - Kirkus
"In this engaging volume, archeologist and historian Hutchinson (Young Henry ) sets out to overturn one of the cherished legends taught in British primary schools: that the Spanish Armada was valiantly turned back by heroic Francis Drake and Queen Elizabeth's navy." - Publishers Weekly
"The author does a magnificent job of describing the military campaign...He also argues convincingly that, in terms of intelligence...this was a truly modern war." - Good Book Guide (UK)
"The victory of the English navy over the Spanish Armada in 1588 is one of those defining moments... of British pluck and determination...Well no, not really, says historian Robert Hutchinson in his revelatory new book." - Choice (UK)
"In a book which successfully weaves together the different elements of the dramatic story, Robert Hutchinson, making use of fresh research (not least his own), sets out to consider the background and the events themselves." - The Tablet (UK)
This information about The Spanish Armada was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
With a doctorate in archaeology, Robert Hutchinson has spent his career as a journalist and publishing director before becoming a critically-acclaimed Tudor historian whose books have been translated into nine languages. He lives in England.
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