Harry KelseyBesprekingen
Auteur van Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate
Besprekingen
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Eventually he would take part in the Irish campaign of 1575 and even circumnavigate the globe, the first by an English commander. I have no doubt that sections comparing the various maps of his global voyage could've been trimmed down significantly. But if you can power through this part, the book really picks up again. This was no longer the South America of Magellan's day after all. He didn't stop there either. The raids of the West Indies, the raid on Cadiz and of course the defeat of the Spanish Armada was the pirate history I was here for.
While I do agree that Kelsey "shattered" the popular, patriotic image of this English hero, I don't think he nailed Drake as a person. Drake as a husband? As a friend in court? In that regard, Kelsey didn't come through, but you know actions speak louder than words. We can certainly judge Drake by how cruelly he treated his shipmates, his disregard for authority, and by his greed. At least he had the skills to back it up. There's a reason the Spanish called him "the Dragon" and why Elizabeth I favored him as a leader. He was every bit the lucrative pirate, even if he didn't want to be referred to as one.