This is an account of the expedition of royal and private ships which left Plymouth in 1595 under the command of Drake and Hawkins with the aim of capturing the city of Panama. The expedition ended in total failure, both leaders died and attempt to capture Grand Canary, Puerto Rico and Panama were all repulsed. For each of the main episodes, Dr Andrews presents documents chosen to illustrate a wide variety of aspects and viewpoints. Most of the material, whether from Spanish or English sources, has not hitherto been published and throws new light on the events and their background. Information on the equipment, financing and personnel of the expedition will be of particular interest to naval historians while the Spanish evidence elucidates the condition and conduct of Spain's imperial defences. There is also a short essay by D.W. Waters on the art of navigation in the age of Drake. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volume first published in 1972.

"The Story of Sir Francis Drake" by Letitia MacColl Elton Sir Francis Drake was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition. He often goes unappreciated, which is why this book by Elton is so important. It shines a light on one of the most important figures in travel history.

The defeat of the Spanish Armada did not put an end to Spanish sea power, nor to Spain's ambitions in northern Europe. By the mid-1590s Spain had recovered from the disaster of 1588, and the renewed naval wars together with the outbreak of rebellion in Ireland from the principal themes of this book. R B Wernham sets out to examine these major events of the last years of the Queen Elizabeth's reign and to assess their impact on English policy. Professor Wernham shows how much of the impetus in foreign policy derived from the Earl of Essex, whose personal ambition and practical incompetence brought frustration and danger, and ultimately led him through rebellion to the Scaffold. It was left to Mountjoy in Ireland, to Leveson and a new generation of sea commanders, and above all to Robert Cecil, to bring war and rebellion to a reasonably satisfactory conclusion. The Return of the Armadas is a superbly integrated and lucidly written study in grand strategy by a leading historian of Elizabethan affairs.