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Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate (Yale Nota Bene)
 
 
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Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate (Yale Nota Bene) (Paperback)

by H Kelsey (Author) "NO HERO EVER DIES ..." (more)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 586 pages
  • Publisher: Yale University Press (1 Sep 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0300084633
  • ISBN-13: 978-0300084634
  • Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13.5 x 4.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 155,188 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #15 in  Books > Biography > Historical > Britain > Norman to Medieval: 1001-1500
    #18 in  Books > Biography > Historical > 1001-1500
    #89 in  Books > History > Britain & Ireland > Norman and Medieval 1001-1500

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Product Description

Product Description

Harry Kelsey paints the picture of Drake as an amoral privateer at least as interested in lining his own 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.
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NO HERO EVER DIES. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars La Dragontea, 31 Oct 2004
This is a reasonably written character assassination. Kelsey's case theory is simple - Drake was a thief with a ruthless streak, who bungled his way to riches and a 'round the world trip, and who manipulated the religious and political differences of the time for his own ends. Kelsey never wavers from this. His objective is to kill the hero. Which is where Kelsey loses his balance and lets the book down.

Obviously well researched, the narrative is coloured throughout by prejudice. And whilst fairly easy to read, the need to denounce Drake becomes stylistically palpable. For instance Kelsey has the habit of repetition, even within the same paragraph; and the rhetorical closing section is clumsy - like an A Level student trying to wrap up an exam question in the last five minutes. All this is based on the fact that throughout a five hundred-page book Kelsey has no sympathy with his subject. He is a barrister for the prosecution and getting a conviction is all that matters.

Drake himself remains an enigma, perhaps even more so after Kelsey's attack. Not once does he make a proper appearance in the narrative. Hostile witnesses give their evidence, Kelsey puts his own biased interpretation of events, and all the while El Drago looks placidly back from his portrait. The Shillingley narrative isn't referred to at all.

While there's certainly evidence that Drake's story is not simply 'Kelly's Heroes' in a galleon, this biography is too biased and with too little understanding of the man to make a proper, rounded study.

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Bring on the Dogs of War!, 7 Jan 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate (Hardcover)
For afficionados of Drake, Elizabethan England, or nautical history, this is a first rate read! The scholarship is thorough and well documented without leaving the prose too dry. Author Kelsey exegetically strips the gloss which has been after-added to most accounts of Drake's life (my brother, who is a nautical archaeologist, found it professionally worthwhile). Unfortunately, Kelsey's apparent bias against Drake's commercial focus prevents a discussion of Drake's larger role as an economic multiplier in the Elizabethan fiscus. The cash brought in by Drake's expeditions and similar ilk were probably critical in enabling the crown to finance the struggle against the Spaniards. Still, all in all, highly recommended.
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0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Drake is the greatest pirate of all times!, 16 Oct 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate (Hardcover)
I love the story of Sir Francis Drake and his adventures in the Spanish Main and was eager at this chance at such a thourouh telling of his story.
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3.0 out of 5 stars the captains and the kings depart!
Hee - anybody who reads biography as a genre has a barely-suppressed sweet tooth for Soviet-style icon-destruction, and this big book satisfies that craving in spades! Read more
Published on 20 Sep 1998

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