The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake: Being His Next Voyage to That to Nombre de Dios

by Francis Drake

With an introduction by W.S.W. Vaux. This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1854 edition by the Hakluyt Society, London.

Genres: History

Paperback

First published January 1, 1926

About the author

Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral, (c. 1540 – 1595) was an English privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Queen Elizabeth I awarded Drake knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588, subordinate only to Charles Howard and the Queen herself. He died of dysentery after unsuccessfully attacking San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1595.

His exploits were legendary, making him a hero to the English but a simple pirate to the Spaniards. He was known as "El Draque". (This name probably originated from the old Spanish meaning "the Dragon" derived from the Latin draco, meaning 'serpent', an obvious play on his family name which in archaic English has the same etymological root). King Philip II was claimed to have offered a reward of 20,000 ducats (about £4m or $8m by modern standards) for his life.

He is famous for (among other things) sailing around the world, returning to England in 1580.

Reviews

[David Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The World Encompassed is a pack of lies and has been known to be such since the publication of the Cooke Account in the mid 19th century. Most of the text is derived from the notebook of Francis Fletcher, parson to the adventure; however, Fletcher's notes were heavily edited to cast Drake in a favorable light. Still, though, The World Encompassed remains the most important available source of information about the second circumnavigation of the world.