In Search of a Kingdom - Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire

“FASCINATING . . . Dramatic and timely.” —New York Times Book Review, Editors'' Choice

In this grand and thrilling narrative, the author of the 200,000-copy paperback bestseller Over the Edge of the World reveals the singular adventures of Sir Francis Drake, whose mastery of the seas during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I changed the course of history.

“Entrancing . . . Very good indeed.” —Wall Street Journal

Before he was secretly dispatched by Queen Elizabeth to circumnavigate the globe, or was called upon to save England from the Spanish Armada, Francis Drake was perhaps the most wanted—and successful—pirate ever to sail. Nicknamed “El Draque” by the Spaniards who placed a bounty on his head, the notorious red-haired, hot-tempered Drake pillaged galleons laden with New World gold and silver, s