Francis Drake

John Cummins

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, hardcover with Dustjacket, illustrated

The lives of a Hero

This is a full-blooded and absorbing portrait, based on research in English and Spanish archives, of the greatest seaman of the Elizabethan age. From his family's fierce Protestantism and early poverty which drove Drake to sea while still a boy until his death at sea in 1596, it was a life of drama in which opportunism, courage, greed, religion and national policy (and luck) all played their part alongside the sailing skill and navigational brilliance of the first man to sail his ship all the way around the world.
After the dazzling success of the 1570s and 1580s came years of declining fortunes and mistrust. In his last years both his character and his naval judgement were distrusted by experienced colleagues, and he died saddened by his own awareness of recent failure.
This book presents Drake through the accounts of friend and enemy on both the national and personal level. His naval battles and audacious piratical raids on Spain's empire and shipping are described using eye-witness accounts from Spanish and English, and his stormy personal relationships reveal a man whose distrust of colleagues contrasted with a generosity of spirit which was a source of wonder to his enemies.
John Cummins ends by looking at Drake's posthumous legend and its inspirational roIe throughout later centuries.