ARMADA 1588: The Spanish Assault on England (Campaign Chronicles) (Hardcover)

by John Barratt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The defeat of the Spanish Armada is one of the turning points in English history, and it was perhaps the defining episode in the long reigns of Elizabeth I of England and Philip II of Spain. The running battle along the Channel between the nimble English ships and the lumbering Spanish galleons has achieved almost legendary status. In this compelling new account John Barratt reconstructs the battle against the Armada in the concise, clear Campaign Chronicles format, which records the action in vivid detail, day by day, hour by hour.

He questions common assumptions about the battle and looks again at aspects of the action that have been debated or misunderstood. Included are full orders of battle showing the chains of command and the effective strengths and fighting capabilities of the opposing fleets. There is also an in-depth analysis of the far-reaching consequences of the wreck of Philip II's great enterprise.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Pen and Sword (March 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844153231
• ISBN-13: 978-1844153237
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,749,237 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exciting new account using the latest research available., March 14, 2006

By	Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

It is always nice to find an author who knows his stuff. In this case, John Barratt has written extensively on 16th and 17th Century history and is an accomplished author on the subjects of land and sea warfare from that period. More recently, however, his research has been focused on the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and the war with Spain - specifically, the Armada and other Spanish operations in the English Channel.

Research is the key to producing any factual historical account and in this case the author has used the very latest historical and archaeological research available in order to completely reconstructed the battle - day by day and hour by hour. Unlike previous accounts of the Armada of 1588, this carefully compiled and well written work exposes many myths and misunderstandings of the battle at sea by introducing new eyewitness and other contemporary accounts of the day.

For those who wish to know for the first time exactly what happened when Spain set out to invade England and Drake decided to finish his game of Bowls (or did he?) before setting out to see them off, this is the book for you. For those who previously thought they knew all there was to know about that same period in history, then this is the book to steer you through a new understanding of the events in question.

The text is well supported with a carefully chosen selection of illustrations, portraits and maps which appear on each relevant page and not in a small glossy collection in the middle of the book. In this way, each picture is relevant to the adjacent text and does much to support one's reading of the work.

NM