The Winchelsea Devil

Eustace Busket was a pirate genius who fought for England and then for France. Born near Boulogne, his life is intimately connected to Winchelsea in Sussex. He was trained as a satanist in the schools of devilry in Toledo, Spain. He learned the ways of the sea in the Mediterranean, then came to England and became its admiral with a house in Winchelsea and a palace in London. He captured the Channel Islands and after falling out with King John during a political crisis, he went to France and became the admiral who planned the French invasion of England to ensure that a French prince became King of the English. His demise was just as spectacular as his life, and he deserves to have his own legend as a man fighting for himself alone. Welcome to the amazing world of Eustace Busket, England's greatest pirate – and paradoxically, one of France's greatest admirals. The book describes his nightmare youth, then life as a monk, a university-level satanist, leaving Spain to become a Mediterranean admiral who learned skills from the Italians during the Crusades. On his return, Eustace raided the French coasts as a pirate and privateer for King John and then sided with Dauphin Louis to raid his former homeland and help to invade it with thousands of troops. This is a book full of drama and surprise. His legendary magical ability and the Battles of Damme and Sandwich in Kent are also described.