The Spanish Armada

"Culminating with the Armada's ghastly shipwrecks in Ireland, Hutchinson's day-by-day story of the Armada is a fine production for maritime history buffs." ―Booklist

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.

Using everything from contemporary eyewitness accounts to papers held by the national archives in Spain and the United Kingdom, Hutchinson re-creates one of history's most famous episodes in an entirely new way.

"Contemporary readers will certainly enjoy this outstanding contribution . . . Those with fond memories of Garrett Mattingly's classic The Armada (1959) will discover an equally enthralling successor." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"In this engaging volume, archeologist and historian Hutchinson sets out to overturn one of the cherished legends taught in British primary schools . . . Hutchinson lays out ample evidence that the Spanish ships sank more from happenstance than heroism." ―Publishers Weekly