{"product_id":"sir-francis-drake-book-harry-kelsey-9780300071825","title":"Sir Francis Drake","description":"In this biography, Harry Kelsey seeks to shatter the familiar image of Sir Francis Drake. The Drake of legend was a pious, brave and just seaman who initiated the move to make England a great naval power and whose acts of piracy against his countries enemies earned him a knighthood for patriotism. Kelsey paints a different picture of Drake as an amoral privateer at least as interested in lining his pockets with Spanish booty as in forwarding the political goals of his country, a man who became a captain general of the English navy but never waged traditional warfare with any success. Drawing on much new evidence, Kelsey describes Drake's early life as the son of a poor family in 16th-century England. He explains how Drake dabbled in piracy, gained modest success as a merchant, and then took advantage of the hostility between Spain and England to embark on a series of pirate raids on undefended Spanish ships and ports, preempting Spanish demands for punishment by sharing much of his booty with the Queen and her councillors. Elizabeth I liked Drake because he was a charming rogue, and she made him an integral part of her war plans against Spain and its armada, but she quickly learned not to trust him with an important command: he was unable to handle a large fleet; was suspicious almost to the point of paranoia and had no understanding of personal loyalty. For Drake, the mark of success was to amass great wealth - preferably by taking if from someone else - and the primary purpose of warfare was to afford him the opportunity to accomplish this.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49583690318097,"sku":"GOR003795728","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50688347013393,"sku":"GOR004430184","price":37.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51696582656273,"sku":"CIN0300071825VG","price":7.77,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0300071825.jpg?v=1750812842","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/sir-francis-drake-book-harry-kelsey-9780300071825","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}