BATTLE OF THE SPANISH ARMADA

(ROGER HART)

One summer morning in 1588, an English sea captain raced up from Plymouth Harbour to a lawn where Sir Francis Drake and other senior naval officers were busy with a game of bowls.  He had momentous news: “My lords, the Armada is sighted!”  Quietly, Drake answered, “We have time to finish the game, and beat the Spaniards too.”

The fleet that threatened Queen Elizabeth’s England was the greatest ever to menace the security of the realm.  With more than a hundred war ships, from galleons to barges, King Philip II planned to conquer England and restore the Catholic faith.  And waiting on the Flemish coast was a giant army, poised for invasion once the Armada had cleared the English Channel.

This was the moment Drake had longed for since his raid on Cadiz the year before.  The English fleet was smaller, but by avoiding close engagements and relying on gunnery, it harried the Armada through the Channel, finally shattering the enemy formation with fire-ships off Calais.  From that moment the battle was won, and the crippled Armada struggled slowly home to ignominy and disgrace.

Roger Hart reconstructs this heroic battle through a fascinating selection of eyewitness accounts and pictures of the period, in an exciting addition to THE DOCUMENTARY HISTORY SERIES.

This 1973 1^st edition hardback publication is in very good overall condition.  The pages are tightly bound and are free from tears, creases, and significant marks.  The dustjacket displays some light rubbing and minor knocks to the edges and corners (see photograph) however the front flap has been ‘price-clipped’ across the bottom corner.  The book runs to 128 pages (22.5cm x 15.5cm), includes a working index and is illustrated throughout the text (see photographs).