Elizabeth's Sea Dogs investigates the rise and fall of a unique group of adventurers - men like Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Martin Frobisher and Walter Raleigh. Seen by the English as heroes but by the Spanish as pirates, they were expert seafarers and controversial characters. This riveting new account reveals them for what they were: extremely tough men in extremely hard times. They sailed, fought, looted and whored their way across the globe; in the process, they established a lasting British presence in the Americas, defeated the Spanish Armada, and made Queen Elizabeth I very wealthy, if seldom grateful. Author Hugh Bicheno sets the Sea Dogs in historical context and reveals their lives and exploits through diligent historical research incorporating contemporary testimony. With additional appendices, colour plates, the author's own maps and technical drawings, Elizabeth's Sea Dogs tells their vivid, extraordinary story as it was lived, in the author's trademark engaging style.

Author Biography

Hugh Bicheno is a writer and historian with a specialist interest in the politics and cutting edge of conflict. His books include Gettysburg (2002), Midway (2002), Crescent and Cross: the Battle of Lepanto 1571 (2003), Rebels & Redcoats: the American Revolutionary War (2003), Razor's Edge: the Unofficial History of the Falklands War (2006) and Vendetta: High Art and Low Cunning at the Birth of the Renaissance (2008).