Garrett Mattingly's thrilling narrative sets out the background of the sixteenth-century European intrigue and religious unrest that gave rise to one of the world's most famous maritime crusades and the naval battles that decided its fate. In putting the naval campaign of 1588 back into the context of the first great international crisis of modern history, Mattingly builds up, like the movements of a symphony, a broad picture of how events of the time affected men's actions, plans and hopes. He brilliantly connects a series of scenes or episodes, shifting the point of focus from England to the continent and from courts to ships and cities. The feeling of tension mounts to a crescendo throughout Europe as the great drama of the Armada is approached. The battle itself and the aftermath are so vividly and poignantly described that they might be happening in our world today. 'A rare and wonderful book, as readable and exciting as a novel, amazingly fresh and stimulating in its approach to a great subject, and impressive for the wide range and authority of its scholarship.' J.E. Neale (20000703)
The Defeat Of The Spanish Armada
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"A historical masterpiece." - A. L. Rowse
"A rare and wonderful book, as readable and exciting as a novel." - J. E. Neale
Book Description
The classic account of one of the world's most famous maritime crusades.'A historical masterpiece.' A.L. Rowse (20000703)
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This history of the Spanish Armada is gripping right from the start - the moment of the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. The protagonists are well described, from Philip of Spain to Pope Sixtus V and Queen Elizabeth, through all the military and naval commanders - from the audacious Drake to the brilliant Duke of Parma or the inexperienced Medina-Sidonia. The naval engagements are brought to life as are the land campaigns which, for instance, tried to secure a Flemish port for the Spaniards to use as a spring board for their army in the Netherlands. Fire-ships, men-of-war, galleys rowed by galley slaves, spies, treachery, piracy, the clash between Protestantism and Catholicism... Highly recommended and highly readable.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although the naval history of the Armada is competently covered here, the main interest of this fascinating book is the diplomatic and military preambles to the event. Mattingly brings to life the characters involved: the brooding, bureaucratic Philip, the professional Farnese, the Jesuit exiles. Their motivations are delineated and the limits of their power to control events are explored.
By L Hazell
Format:Paperback
This is a fantastic read for anyone who had a brief knowledge of the Spanish Armada, with inside details about the religious problems and factions vying for power in western Europe and the fall out and aftermath of the parties concerned.
It gleams light onto the unseen hardness and nobleness of Medina Sidonia with lack of resources and fire power and still how he conducts himself as a gentleman in his life after the battle. It also looks at the other men in the defence of the Queens realm and squabbles and disagreements between the captains of the navy and person feud between Drake and Frobisher.
The chapters are nice and short too so you can leave it and pick up at good points in the book.
It gleams light onto the unseen hardness and nobleness of Medina Sidonia with lack of resources and fire power and still how he conducts himself as a gentleman in his life after the battle. It also looks at the other men in the defence of the Queens realm and squabbles and disagreements between the captains of the navy and person feud between Drake and Frobisher.
The chapters are nice and short too so you can leave it and pick up at good points in the book.
By aitor2
Format:Kindle Edition
this book is not only an amenable description of the battle and the preparations but it shows the intrigue going on in other countries as they coped with religious tensions.
You get the sense that the whole enterprise was rushed up on the grounds of fanatism which was not match for technology and the elements.
You get the sense that the whole enterprise was rushed up on the grounds of fanatism which was not match for technology and the elements.
Format:Paperback
When it first appeared this work was regarded as a tour de force. It won a Pulitzer prize and was a bestseller. It is still a remarkably fine book. Garrett Mattingley was an American historian who established a considerable reputation in Europe, and in particular the UK, as the author of `Renaissance Diplomacy' (1955), which analysed the origins of diplomacy and the diplomatic profession in the courts of fifteenth century Italy. His book on the Spanish Armada appeared in 1959. Unfortunately, Mattingley died prematurely, in Oxford, in 1962.
The book is a straightforward but brilliant account of the defeat of the Armada. Mattingley had served in both World Wars and taught in England, and it reflects the English point of view - note I say English, not British, since the Union of the Crowns had not yet occurred in 1588. This is a masterly account and it is inevitably patriotic, despite the author's nationality. It reflects the warm glow of Anglo-American friendship in a period when the special relationship was still special. It stirred the blood of at least one young English schoolboy.
In England, we celebrated the 400th anniversary of the defeat of the Armada in 1988; but, since Spain and the U.K. were now members of the European Union, it was a politically correct and lukewarm celebration. An exhibition was mounted stressing that the defeat of the Armada was a `close-run thing', like Waterloo; and books were written to that effect by some excellent historians, drawing in particular on the results of marine archaeology (unavailable to Mattingley). The revisionist view was that the Armada had not really been defeated by those pirates Francis Drake and his friends, but by the appalling British weather.... Read more ›
The book is a straightforward but brilliant account of the defeat of the Armada. Mattingley had served in both World Wars and taught in England, and it reflects the English point of view - note I say English, not British, since the Union of the Crowns had not yet occurred in 1588. This is a masterly account and it is inevitably patriotic, despite the author's nationality. It reflects the warm glow of Anglo-American friendship in a period when the special relationship was still special. It stirred the blood of at least one young English schoolboy.
In England, we celebrated the 400th anniversary of the defeat of the Armada in 1988; but, since Spain and the U.K. were now members of the European Union, it was a politically correct and lukewarm celebration. An exhibition was mounted stressing that the defeat of the Armada was a `close-run thing', like Waterloo; and books were written to that effect by some excellent historians, drawing in particular on the results of marine archaeology (unavailable to Mattingley). The revisionist view was that the Armada had not really been defeated by those pirates Francis Drake and his friends, but by the appalling British weather.... Read more ›
Format:Hardcover
This is a brilliant, detailed, eminently readable account of the Armada, put into the context of European politics of the time. It gives as good a description of Elizabeth I and her relationship with her people and her statesmen as you will find anywhere. It also dispels some of the myths of the Armada, such as the notion that the Spanish were poor seamen, or that Medina Sidonia was incompetent. In all, one of those rare things - an academic piece of writing that is readable and accessible to anyone.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Ed
Format:Hardcover
Bias in ways gives alot good quote for essay's and so on. In depth of the period of the aramada from both Phillip and England. But pretty limited in conistancy of dates and sources/explanations.
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