Books: Sir Francis Drake By John Sugden

 (Drivebycuriosity) - Sir Francis Drake belongs to the best known Englishmen in history. Rightly so, the captain played an important role in England´s rise to a sea power. Without him England might not had acquired a global empire. The biography "Sir Francis Drake" by John Sugden describes his life and his accomplishments on about 400 pages  ( amazon).

Sudgen narrates Drake`s rise as a pirate, who made a career by raiding the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean. Some chapters read like adventure stories by Robert Louis Stephenson. But the author also chronicles the political influence Drake gained at Queen Elizabeth`s court thanks to his raids. Drake`s talents & expertise were helpful in the brewing military conflict between Spain and England. King Philip II of Spain, a fundamentalist Catholic, was obsessed with the idea of destroying heretic Elizabeth, overtake her kingdom and make the island a strictly Catholic Spanish province. 

Drake´s raid´s on Cartagena (today Colombia), Panama and many other Spanish owned place were just needle stings but they altogether started to weaken the Spanish empire. Bigot King Phillip needed the over sea money as mortgage for the huge loans he took from banks in Genua (Italy) to finance his military operations and to conquer England.

But Drake was more than just a pirate. Sugden narrates the seafarer`s nautical skills which let him find a way around infamous & dangerous Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean, which Drake used - of course - for raiding the Spanish treasures on the Pacific coast, especially in Panama City.

Drake´s experiences, talents & rising political power gave him an important role in England´s defense against the Armada, which the obsessed Spanish king had send to eliminate Elizabeth´s realm. Sudgen elaborates the complex patterns of skirmishes and weather situations which eventually stopped the Spanish attack and killed most her soldiers & sailors. 

I was bit exhausted to browse all the historical facts the author presented, but I also learned a lot - not just about Drake and the Armada, but also about the geopolitical situation in the 17th century. The book is worth the effort.