About this item
After the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, Protestant England was beset by the hostile Catholic powers of Europe, including Spain. In October 1585, King Philip II of Spain declared his intention to destroy Protestant England and began preparing invasion plans, leading to an intense intelligence war between the two countries and culminating in the dramatic sea battles of 1588.Popular history dictates that the defeat of the Spanish Armada was a David versus Goliath victory, snatched by plucky and outnumbered English forces. In this tightly written and fascinating new history, Robert Hutchinson explodes this myth, revealing the true destroyers of the Spanish Armada--inclement weather and bad luck. Of the 125 Spanish ships that set sail against England, only 60 limped home, the rest wrecked or sank with barely a shot fired from their main armament.
About the Author
Robert Hutchinson was Defence Correspondent for the UK national news agency, the Press Association in Fleet Street from 1978-83 before moving to Jane's Information Group to launch Jane's Defence Weekly and becoming Publishing Director, responsible for books, magazines, journals and digital titles. From 1997-2008, he was chairman of the media side of the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee, the unique British system that protects national security in the reporting of military or intelligence issues.
He is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, an associate tutor in church archaeology at the University of Sussex, and an expert in the arcaheology of the Reformation. He was appointed OBE in the 2008 New Year's Honours list.
A keen historian and archaeologist, Hutchinson believes that Britain's history provides stories of more drama and passion than could ever be made up for any television or film screenplay. He uses as much original documents as possible in researching his highly-acclaimed books because 'it's good to read the character's own words written at the time'.
He writes a strong narrative, with additional information on people, places and events, provided in the endnotes, so that any questions the reader might have can be quickly answered. 'The narrative is stand alone - it's up to the reader to decide whether to pause in the story to discover extra information'
