No comments about You Wouldn't Want to Sail in the Spanish Armada!: An Invasion You'd Rather Not Launch (You Wouldn't Want to...).

3 comments about Trafalgar and the Spanish Navy: The Spanish Experience of Sea Power.

1. While the author has made the point that there were many fine officers in the Spanish Navy, and that there were many excellent ships, the facts indicate that this combination was never capitalised upon, and the result was invariably disasterous. The best of leaders can only do so much with what they are given, and in the case of Spain, this meant far too few seamen, far too much influence by the Army, far too little training for crews, and some of the worst treatment imaginable. There is no point in building enormous warships if they cannot be effectively manned! Further, it is well-documented that ships of the line of the Spanish navy, although enormous in size, were laughably undergunned compared to their contemporaries. This is not made clear in this book. That said, it would also be of enormous benefit to view some of the plans and profiles of these ships, so as to compare them with their British and French contemporaries. Dozens of books have been written about HMS Victory and other Royal Navy ship types, but almost nothing about the ships of the other navies of the time, and even less in English! It is a great pity the author chose to use so many primitive contemporary Spanish paintings for illustration rather than something either commissioned for the book (expensive, no doubt!), or obtained with a bit more research into what is available.



2. Author John Harbron's book is a nice relief from the all long line of Anglocentric Naval historians that like to downplay the accomplishments of the Spanish and, to a lesser extent, French navies in the 1700s. The Spanish Royal Navy did a fine job in the 18th century given the fact that they were outgunned and outmanned and could rarely coordinate effectively with their French naval counterparts in their battles against the British Royal Navy. The results speak for themselves. During the 18th century Spain was able to successfully maintain her vast American empire vitually intact despite contant British Royal Navy attacks. It was only when revolutionary movements in her American empire that Spain lost most of her territories and not because of British actions.
   John Hebron's book articulate accomplishments of great Spanish commanders like Blas De Lezo and Bernardo Galvez who had a consistant record of defeating British foes. Facts that are rarely mentioned or glossed over in English language history texts.



3. John Harbron's book is a refreshing re-balance of naval history during the Age of Sail that counters the all too often Anglo-centric and borderline jingoist view of naval from authors like N.A.M Rodger. Despite what has been written about the Spanish Navy in the English speaking world, the facts stand out for themselves. Given that Armada was outnumbered and out gunned by the Royal Navy since about the 1650s, the fact of the matter is that the Armada did a fine job despite frequent attacks by Britain and it's privateers. The Spanish Empire held intact well ito the 1900s due in large part to it's great navy. Spain's navy produced great Admirals like Blas De Lezo, who was instrumental in helping acheive victory against the full might of the British during the War of Jenkin's Ear(1739-1748) when the British so wrongfully thought they had the Spanish Empire on the ropes.

5 comments about Armada Strategies for Spanish 21.

1. While on a casino trip, I became interested in the new "off-shoot" of Blackjack--Spanish 21. Since it's not my style to play casino games I know little about, I turned to a gaming writer I have come to trust and enjoy reading--Frank Skoblete. I was not disappointed. Skoblete's book on Armada Strategies is fun, instructional on the game, and has given me one more weapon with which to protect my bankroll during squirmishes in casino-land. If you are a beginner--buy and study this book--it will help you play this fun new game. If you are a seasoned Blackjack player--BUY AND STUDY this book--there's a different basic strategy to Spanish 21 than regular BJ that can make a difference between winning the battle and waving the white flag!



2. Spanish 21 is a lot more fun than regular 21 once you learn the Armada Strategies. I have been getting a monetary edge (Scoblete's term) ever since I read this book! It's wonderful to win and get no heat from the pits bosses. Thank you kindly Mr. Scoblete for writing this book.



3. This book contains the basic strategy for this new game and a method for counting cards. It is a very good book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to play this new casino game. The writer is very good.



4. Then Amazon is offering you the best bargain you can get. I just finished reading both of Scoblete's books, BOLD CARD PLAY and THE ARMADA STRATEGIES and they were incredible. They give the best strategies for these often casino-friendly games. Scoblete shows you how to reduce the house edge and to take advantage of the casino comping system. This is a great tandem of books for gamblers interested in reading about the "other" casino games.



5. It has been discovered that the basic strategy for Spanish 21 provided in this book is INCORRECT. You can find the correct strategy on the internet. My favourite site is www.wizardofodds.com (look for Spanish 21).
   
   While the book provides some interesting strategies for getting more comps, it really doesn't provide a way of coming out ahead monetarially. In other words, you are losing money playing (in the long run), but getting comps to offset your loses (like free buffets).

No comments about Under Drake's Flag - A Tale of the Spanish Main.

5 comments about Gloriana's Torch: A Novel.

1. Gloriana's Torch is the third in a trilogy of Elizabethan thrillers. It can be read and enjoyed by itself but it is helpful to have read the previous two (Firedrake's Eye and Unicorn's Blood). The story centers around the Spanish Armada and the race to uncover the mystery of the Miracle of Beauty. It is peopled with a cast of absolutely fascinating and complex characters-spies, inquisitors, galley slaves, fanatical priests, a knife wielding dwarf and a mystical African princess. No stereotypes or literary cliches here! The writing is beautiful, almost poetic in places. And it is obviously well researched without becoming pedantic. But its the drama of the story that will suck you in. There are fiery battles at sea, clandestine meetings between master and spy, desperate sword fights, passion, courage, betrayal. If you abandon yourself to the books twists, turns, surprises and resolutions you will finish breathless and with your heart in your throat. Lets hope Ms. Finney doesn't keep us waiting for her next masterpiece.



2. A gorgeous book, stand-alone but probably most effective when read after the first two, FIREDRAKE'S EYE and UNICORN'S BLOOD.
   
   GT is about the Armada, and features the characters from the earlier books, damaged warrior David Becket and clerkly but surprisingly resilient Simon Ames, as well as new personalities. Merula, the African shamaness, is portrayed skillfully, as a real person rather than a stereotype. Elizabeth, as in the earlier books, is a both powerful and human figure.
   
   My favorite part of this book was the dream sequences, alternative-history bits in which the Armada actually lands; but I really wanted one more sequence, one offering resolution for Becket, who is seen at a very important moment only through Merula's point of view. I wasn't crazy about the repetition of events in different POVs; usually Finney had shown the character's reactions already from another character's point of view so that the repetition really wasn't needed. In general, though, I felt the plot was fast-moving, plausible and gripping.
   
   Finney's work in general and this book in particular should appeal to readers who enjoy the work of Mary Gentle and Dorothy Dunnett.



3. Having read Firedrakes Eye and now Gloriana' Torch, it is time to call it quits. The stories are both obtuse; the action has no flow. Worst of all, I cannot bring myself to care about any of these characters - each is deeply and unsympathetically flawed. David is a man who invariably descends back to his violent past; Simon can never hope to rise above the fact that he uses thumb screws to question people. Simon's wife, Rebecca, is only sympathetic in relation to her husband; she scarcely hides a dark and violent side of her own.
   
   The description of sixteenth century european life is gratuitously graphic and unbalanced by characterizations of the 'humaness' of all life that surpasses eras. Not only must we know that a character hides a weapon in his rectum, but we must be reminded every three or four pages for a seemingly endless time. For me, the joy of historical fiction is not to gawk at the differences from centuries away, but to identify closely with the all too similar lives we all live, no matter how fancy the costumes or the set.



4. 
   
   The Spanish Armada is ready to strike at the Queen of England, King Phillip of Spain seeking to conquer by force what he could not accomplish in marriage. Elizabeth's spies have done their best, enduring great dangers in foreign ports to bring critical information to defeat the Spanish forces. One critical clue remains unknown, the key to success or failure, the secret of the "Miracle of Beauty", the most carefully guarded element of the Spanish plan. Calling on those who have come to her aid in another dangerous adventure that threatened the crown, Elizabeth gathers her confidants: Tomasina, the Queen's Fool; David Beckett, once tortured by the Inquisition and mistakenly by the Queen's own men; Simon Anriques, a Jewish merchant-spy loyal to the Queen; Rebecca, Simons' wife who will go to any length to save her husband's life; and Merula, an African slave of extraordinary talents, her heart as large as her powerful body.
   
   The enemy drawing nearer by the day, a bold plan is put in place to gain knowledge of the Miracle of Beauty and an effort to recover Simon, who has been taken by the Inquisition while in port, and Merula's son, sold into slavery before his mother could save him. At the crux of the enterprise are the guns and ordnance to turn the firearms into killing machines. All these threads are woven into an intricate plot that brings the threat of war to the very shores of England. Finney tackles her story from every perspective, her characters fulfilling their varied destinies, the Queen, David Beckett, broken in the past but dreaming of a more noble future, Merula, acquiescing to the demands of the "white ghosts" while searching for her son, Edward Dormer, a seminarian turned assassin, Joseph Pasquale, an Inquisitor with spiritual pretensions and demons of his own and Simon Anriques, who endures the Inquisitor's torture and the hardships of imprisonment as a galley slave in hopes of reuniting with his wife. Even Suleiman, the Padron of the galley salves, is humanized as he whips his crew into shape in the filthy, death-laden holds of the galleons where slaves are worked to death.
   
   The author goes beyond the simple retelling of an historical event, her characters defined by personal ambitions and a rigid society, the carefully layered classes from noble to slave that turn the great wheel of the kingdoms, from heroes to cowards, aristocrat to peasant, a fascinating cross-section of history at a pivotal time on the world stage. Finney puts some fine satirical points on individual characters, particularly the righteous Spanish priests who defend their purity with rabid zeal to disguise the concupiscence that torments them, clutching denial as desperately as their hair shirts and prayer books. Balancing the converging events and individuals, Finney tosses a great salad of 16th century religious conflict, intrigues, traitors, scoundrels and fanatics, all headed toward a climactic ending that will either bring Elizabeth's destruction or her triumph. There is always a contemporary message in history and Gloriana's Torch is no exception, Finney's tale inspired and beautifully crafted. Luan Gaines/ 2006.
   
   



5. I'm not sure what to say about this book. It is well written, it is well plotted but...in spite of the author's skills I'm not sure I liked it. It was a lot of action and adventure but at times it becomes far to graphic in it's descriptions of life in all it's ugliness 500 years ago. I learned a lot of stuff I really didn't need to know and it didn't actually add much to the story. Maybe it's me. I'm older, I grew up with books that were driven by characters. Authors now are being asked to compete with other sources of entertainment that are consistantly more violent so they feel the need to shock. For this book's author it is kind of shame. Ms. Finney is a fine writer, she doesn't neet to pander quite so much. In short, if blood and guts and somehow disturbingly graphic descriptions of smells are your thing, this is a good book. If you want a bit more pagentry, romance and history presented in a softer more flattering focus you won't like this one.

2 comments about The Defeat of the Spanish Armada.

1. The defeat of the Armada inaugurated a period which, for English history at least, culminated in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the triumph of a bourgeois science-based way of life.

   In this book, Mattingly, unlike many others who have concentrated on the naval aspects of the episode, explores the motivations of the states and individuals involved. In brisk, experienced vignettes, he presents the dilemma facing the English government faced with the intractable problem of the putative heir to the throne, Mary, Quen of Scots, a Catholic, at a time when Elizabeth's throne had been explicity threatened by the Pope.

   We see the weakness of France; the relentless attempts of the leading Catholic power, Habsburg Spain, to suppress the Protestant inspired revolt of Holland, which involved military action close to the Kent shore, and action in which England was already heavily involved and expensively subsidizing.

   The cutting of the Gordian knot by the execution of Mary precipitated the Spanish attack. Philip II hoped to achieve several objectives at once: to remove Elizabethan Protestantism from Europe; to end English interference with his military action in Holland; finally to crush the Dutch Republic and re-establish the unity of Christendom.

   The social and religious motivations of the actors are brilliantly portrayed by an expert in the diplomatic records of the period.

   Perhaps the most telling thing you can say in favour of this book is that it is not written for the professional historian, but cannot be ignored by any of them.




2. I first read Mattingly's book as a grammar school (high-school to readers on the other side of the pond) history student in England in the 1960s, and have been coming back to it regularly ever since for the sheer pleasure of it. My old paperback copy wore out, so my family gave me the hardback version.
   
   The great strength of Mattingly's treatment is that he went far beyond the purely naval aspects of the campaign. He set it squarely in the context of the politico-religious struggle for domination in western Europe, with England and the Dutch Protestants on one side, Spain and all her allies and dependencies on the other, and France paralysed by a ferocious three-cornered internal struggle in which both sides intervened. He is particularly strong on the events before and after the battle of Coutras which prevented France from either pursuing the ultra-Catholic preferences of the house of Guise (of which Mary Queen of Scots' mother was a member), or the traditional French policy of opposition to the Hapsburg rulers of Spain, which the Catholic King Henri of Valois and his Protestant heir-apparent Henri of Navarre would both have preferred. Mattingly shows great insight in realising that it was the execution of Mary Queen of Scots (the event with which he opens his narrative) that freed Philip to launch the Armada; sending it while she was alive would have risked putting a pro-French queen on the English throne.
   
   I do nevertheless find two serious gaps in Mattingly's handling of the geopolitical context. The first is the Dutch, who after all had been fighting the war, and suffering the casualties, longer than anyone else except Spain. Mattingly ignores their internal dynamics and skates over the detail of their relationships with England, in both areas doing far less than justice to a key element in the strategic equation. The second gap is the lack of treatment of the Scottish dimension. Scotland, ruled by Mary's son James VI, was the dog that did not bark in the night in 1587-88, and the reasons for that deserve analysis. Yes, after his mother's death James was nearest heir to the English throne, but just HOW did he dissuade the Scots - over whom his power was strictly limited - from using the excuse for their usual descent on England?
   
   Mattingly's general strength on the geopolitical aspects does not mean he is weak or lacking in detail on the naval and military aspects: quite the contrary. Coverage of Drake's 1587 raid on Cadiz is pretty much obligatory in a history of the Armada, and Mattingly gives it blow by blow (incidentally revealing what a thoroughly impossible man Drake was to work with). But he is equally strong on Parma's capture of Sluys, which he hoped would be his troops' embarkation point, in the face of dour resistance by the Dutch-English garrison. When it comes to the Armada itself, his grasp of detail is supreme. Mattingly was probably the first of all the many hundreds of Armada historians to read a tide-table and work out that Drake really would have had time to finish his game of bowls - had he ever played it. My only quibble here is over the Dutch naval contribution: they were never in contact with the Armada itself, but their presence scotched any possibility of Parma's forces making a rendezvous. Mattingly acknowledges their importance, but I personally would have welcomed more detail.
   
   Mattingly belonged to the bravura school of English-language historians (Gwyn "The Vikings" Jones is another great exponent), which is both a strength and a weakness. His magnificent prose and grand narrative sweep carry the reader along on a flood tide - sometimes to the extent of concealing omissions and even (for all I know, not being a professional historian) errors. A few of his stylistic mannerisms grate a little nowadays, notably his use of "men" (as in "men said that ...") when a modern viewpoint requires acknowledgement that half the population is female. But these are minor quibbles - buy it and read it!

5 comments about The Voyage of the Armada: The Spanish Story.

1. The story of the Spanish Armada, as told by David Howarth, is built from his research of original Spanish archives. Apparently, he may have been the first to do so. Other historians had relied on English sources. That principal fact makes the story more compelling than other histories of the event.

   Secondarily, Howarth reports on innovations and errors. For example, the Spanish invented the "convoy" and convoy tactics. This prompted the English to invent the "wolfpack." Maritime historains will be interested in the accidental development of these strategies.

   Business management students will get to study the consequences of central planning and micromanagement by the Spanish King. Howarth does a good job contrasting the Spanish model with the decentralized style of the English.

   A good read on several levels.




2. This wonderfully descriptive book by the English author, David Howarth, is well worth reading if you have a desire to learn about the Spanish Armada and the "Enterprise against England". Although this book, `The Voyage of the Armada' (1981) is not as detailed as `The Armada' (1959) by Garrett Mattingly, its still a great story and well worth the time to read.

   By all accounts this story of the enterprise is told as it was seen through the eyes and experiences of the Spanish soldiers and sailors and is very well done in that regard. Using first hand accounts found in numerous Spanish letters and reports, many previously not utilised before, the story comes alive and gives you a real feeling and understanding of the participants, many who did not survive to tell their tale.

   One aspect of the book that I found pleasing was that the author took the story past the battle with the English fleet. David Howarth provides the reader with an account of what happened to the ships and men who actually survived the "dash" up the Channel. Those who were shipwrecked along the Irish coast were subjected to even more terror than they had experienced so far and very few survived.

   The real hero of this story is Medina Sidonia, the commander of the Spanish ships, and I found myself wondering could anyone have done any better under similar circumstances? This is a great story with an exciting narrative and although it only runs to 250 pages (hardback edition) I found I came away with a better understanding of what happened and why. This book would be a great companion volume to `The Armada' by Garrett Mattingly but can stand alone as a decent and well presented account of the "Armada".




3. Howarth is a great story teller for historians. In this book, he shows the Spanish side led by the Duke of Medina Sidonia. The Duke was a very courageous though inexperienced sailor. His commanders were also very able. The problem was the campaign as formated by Philip II. Philip micro managed but at the same time did not present what the ultimate objective was to be. Would he name himself King of England? One has to fill in the blanks, and Howarth does a good job of giving details of what Philip intended to do.
   Unlike others, Howarth details why the Spaniards were the underdog in this campaign. The English ships were sleek and maneuverable, whereas the Spaniards were clumsy. The numbers were not as great as one supposed. All told, the Spanish were the underdogs since they were operating far from base. The result were running battles, with the English besting the Spaniards. On the trip around the isles, poor weather, lack of provisions, and unseaworthy vessels killed more than the battle itself. Howarth does a great job in describing this agony of sailors and soldiers seeking home, but ultimately killed in Ireland.
   The only wish for this book is that Howarth could have expanded his study. This is an interesting subject, but the book was short.



4. Howarth, an English historian, takes a look at the Spanish Armada debacle from the Spanish point of view, using letters and documents culled from the Spanish national archives. He awards first prize for the disaster to King Philip, a first-rate numbskull whose foolhardy strategy and tactics doomed the fleet before it ever left port. Thanks to him, Spain has been a second-class power ever since. Duke Medina Sedonia, fleet commander, gets far more sympathetic treatment than his boss: despite having not a shred of military or nautical experience, he displays heroic courage and equanimity in the face of near hopeless odds. Besides these two, Horwath delves deep into the personalities of many other key participants on both sides, including Drake, Frobisher, the de Valdes cousins, Recalde, and the energetically inactive Duke of Parma. The narrative is compact yet sweeping: in a mere 250 pages, Horwath gives good account of the religious and political motives behind the mission, the military strengths and weaknesses of both sides, tactical and strategic developments in sixteenth century naval warfare, and the misery endured by the sailors and soldiers of the Armada. He describe of the various fates of the doomed Spaniards with heart-wrenching passion, but includes some rousing tales of survival and escape that truly lift the spirit. Well done!



5. I picked up this book almost at random to write a book review for my Tudor-Stuart English class. The book is written in a narrative format that really helps you follow the story - for an avid fantasy book reader, it came across almost as a real book and not just a dry history text. The book has a real narrative feel that gives it a lot of strength. Recommended if you are interested in the Armada, or historical naval battles.

5 comments about A Military History of the Western World (From the Defeat of the Spanish Armada to the Battle of Waterloo).

1. Good Basic Book on Western strategy, Easy to read and focussed.



2. This book is for the person who has a generalized understanding of the time period covered but wants to learn more. The author seems to hate Americans, though.



3. Those who wish to understand not only the military history but also the underreported political undercurrents of those times will love this book and read it over and over again. By examining the failures by both military leaders and politicians in understanding the obvious lessons of their relatively recent past, they will gain valuable insights into our current condition.



4. Fuller offers an insightful blend of battlefield detail and the broader causes and effects for each engagement presented. He avoids one of the major shortcomings I have with a lot of other military history authors: bogging the reader down in pedantic minutiae.



5. I his three volume work Fuller, a prolific author and military historian, analyzes the development of western military science from ancient Egypt through the end of World War II using descriptions of a series of important battles linked together by short "chronicles" of the intervening years. The battles are clearly summarized and unnecessary details are avoided in favor of thoughtful and insightful analyses of the political and social impacts of military developments. The breadth of research is impressive and some of his ideas are fascinating.
   
   On the other hand, in this the third volume as the narrative approaches the author's lifetime he begins to lose his scholarly objectivity and his personal politics show through. When we reach the Russian revolution it becomes clear that Fuller was an hysterical anti-communist. Not surprising in a western military man writing in the 1950's. Less palatable are his fascist sympathies - yes, I mean the word literally. Apparently Fuller flirted with the British fascists before WWII, and his leanings are apparent in this volume. He writes with approval of Mussolini's and Hitler's rise to power and although he does mention the Nazi's persecution of the Jews during the pre-war years he does his best to soften their image ("brutality" is the harshest word he uses), while he ignores the holocaust itself completely. At the same time he vilifies FDR (whom he seems to think was mostly responsible for the outbreak of WWII) in the harshest terms at every opportunity and is often severely critical of Churchill as well. In the end his lack of objectivity undermines the entire second half of his book.
   
   Two examples will suffice: on pp. 372-4 he includes in full a quote from the Polish Ambassador in Washington, devoting nearly one and a half pages to it and describing it as "illuminating." The quote is packed with enough anti-Semitism that it could have come from Goebbel's Nazi propaganda machine. Second, in a footnote on page 504 Fuller characterizes the allied invasion of Vichy French territories in North Africa as "as flagrant an act of aggression against a neutral country as any perpetrated by Hitler." OK, technically it was a violation of French neutrality, but to equate it with Hitler's aggression ignores:
   1) The ink was not even try on Hitler's promise to respect Czechoslovakia's borders when he invaded them.
   2) Europe was at peace during the occupation of Czechoslovakia and was still at peace during the invasion of Poland.
   3) The Polish and Czech governments were universally recognized internally and externally, while a large percentage of the French refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Vichy government.
   4) The Poles resisted violently, as would the Czechs if Chamberlain had not just given away their frontier defenses. The French in North Africa, after some initial hesitation, welcomed and cooperated with the allies.
   5) The invasion of North Africa by the allies was a unique occurrence. In addition to Czechoslovakia and Poland, Hitler also invaded, unprovoked, neutral Denmark, Norway, Luxemburg, Belgium, and the Netherlands; not to mention the Soviet Union, with which he was supposedly allied.
   And so on. To compare the allies aggression with Hitler's is absurd, and unfortunately goes a long way to destroying the author's credibility.

3 comments about The Spanish Armada: Revised Edition.

1. This book provides an excellent chronicle of the actual engagement between the English and Spanish fleets. All the details of war (like the number of ships, men, even the quality of food carried on board) are here.
   The book does provide an account of the geopolitical events sorrounding battle, but I have the impression that the authors were more concerned with describing the battle itself. For a more detailed picture of the diplomatic and political causes and consequences of the Armada, I would refer you to yet another book by Geoffrey Parker: "The Grand Stategy of Philip II").



2. This book treats the subject with an erudition and a level of detail proper of a scholar, yet in such an agile and balanced way that it doesn't bore a layman.
   As well as factual data, a few conclusions are carefully drawn, with archaeological evidence and illustrations provided in the exact measure to support them.
   A book to own and consult often by anyone remotely interested in the period.



3. Colin Martin (underwater archaeologist) and Geoffrey Parker's (historian) The Spanish Armada is an impressive and groundbreaking piece of multi-disciplinary scholarship. The causes and the eventual result of the Armada have never been that open to interpretation but the reasons for the extraordinary failure have been. It is in this field that Colin Martin's excavations contribute vital information.
   
   Philip II's plan for the Armada was as follows: the fleet must sail up English Channel and rendezvous in the Straits of Dover with the Spanish 'Army of Flanders' under the command of Parma (Philip II's cousin). Then, the fleet would escort a substantial part of the army on special boats to Kent. From here, then it was suppose to capture the weak English forces (an entire chapter deals with the deficiencies of the English army and Coastal Defenses and potentially what would happen if the army had landed) and capture London with the Armada sailing along side up the Thames. Philip planned to restore the country to Catholicism, set up some sort of puppet ruler, and have the pope pay for a chunk of the extreme cost. His motives were primarily religious (sent by God to remove heretics) but also he wanted to prevent English aid from helping the Dutch independence movement that was busy fighting the Spanish, and secure newly captured Portuguese empire and its sprawled possessions from pretenders to the Portuguese throne (supported by the English) and legal pirates (Drake and others supported by the Queen).
   
   The most fascinating part of the book by far is not the political build up (sadly, slightly brief in this text) not the reasons for launching, but the reasons for its spectacular failure. The authors propose that the Spanish tactics, that concentrated on grappling and boarding, had not prepared the soldiers for reloading their unwieldy guns as fast as the English since they expected to fire only once. Secondly, the English had professional sailors who did nothing else but fire cannons. Thirdly, the communication in this period was dismal and although Parma had started to prepare his army it was unable to link with Medina Sidonia and his Armada because he thought the fleet would arrive much later. An entire chapter looks at all the causes of the failure (many more than the ones I have listed above). Most of the blame seems to lie with Philip since the individual commanders did their utmost. He relied on the virtually impossible link up between fleet and army to achieve victory which is at once the weakest and most important part of the entire plan.
   
   This books analyzes and dismisses commonly held myths and theories, delves into the fleets with great yet understandable detail, looks at the treatment disparity between the English and Spanish sailors after the war (Elizabeth treated hers VERY poorly in comparison to Philip), and provides multiple helpful images and diagrams. My only important qualm was the fact that the preparation of the Armada itself, overlooked by Medina Sidonia, was only given a cursory look. This book is definitely worthwhile to the scholar and casual historian alike who wants a good look at this fascinating time period.

1 comments about The Confident Hope of a Miracle: The True Story of the Spanish Armada.

1. On the one hand, this book is a meticulous reconstruction of a now almost apocryphal event: the Defeat of the Spanish Aramada. On the other hand, it is a finely told story of suspense and adventure. And finally, it is a superb tale of the days when Spain was the Master of the World, England was hanging on by its fingernails, and wooden ships were not yet the miracles of technology that they later came to be in the days of Nelson.
   
   I love the detail and connections in this book! For example, the author of Don Quixote, Cervantes, was involved in events leading up to the Spanish Armada(s). We learn more about Elizabeth I's (told from a decidedly UNsympathetic historian's point of view) and Sir Francis Drake's (who comes off as a superbly competent though self-interested risen-from-the-common-ranks adventurer) roles. We learn MUch more about Phillip II, King of Spain and effective secular Master of the Western World (until, that is, the defeats of his Armadas).
   
   Sailing in the 1500's was so much a matter of luck, timing, logistics, weather, and fortitude. New naval technologies and strategies were in their infant states. The Spanish had the popular vote to win. The English had the technology (guns and gunnery) if only they had the food. Poor planning on the Spanish side and supremely fortunate timing on the English side managed to counteract English budget frugalities and supplier shenanigans.
   
   In the end it is a rip-roaring story, all the more enthralling for the details. Hanson builds the story masterfully: element by element, personality by personality, circumstance by circumstance... from Phillip's "brainstorm" to invade England, to the climactic sequence of battle encounters as both fleets were pushed along the English Channel by wind and storm.
   
   It's hard indeed to remember how uncertain setting sail was back then. This was the same era as the setting of Clavell's "Shogun" book - Blackthorne the devil-take-all English pilot and his precious navigation Rutters. Galleons and Arquebuses ruled back then. Oh my!