Elizabeth's Sea Dogs: How the English Became the Scourge of the Seas

by Hugh Bicheno

Elizabeth's Sea Dogs investigates the rise and fall of a unique group of adventurers - men like Francis Drake, John Hawkins, Martin Frobisher and Walter Raleigh. Seen by the English as heroes but by the Spanish as pirates, they were expert seafarers and controversial characters. This riveting new account reveals them for what they extremely tough men in extremely hard times. They sailed, fought, looted and whored their way across the globe; in the process, they established a lasting British presence in the Americas, defeated the Spanish Armada, and made Queen Elizabeth I very wealthy, if seldom grateful. Author Hugh Bicheno sets the Sea Dogs in historical context and reveals their lives and exploits through diligent historical research incorporating contemporary testimony. With additional appendices, colour plates, the author's own maps and technical drawings, Elizabeth's Sea Dogs tells their vivid, extraordinary story as it was lived, in the author's trademark engaging style.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Maritime, Tudor Period, Military Fiction

448 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2012

About the author

Hugh Bicheno graduated from Cambridge and later joined the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). He is now a political risk analyst and an historian of conflict.

Reviews

[Rob Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for me. It covers the Anglo Spanish war from 1575 -1604 primarily but also gives very detailed information on the lead up to this period of state sanctioned or unsanctioned "wink/wink" piracy and Corsair activity. Focusing on the exploits of Drake, Frobishar, and Raleigh it also covers lesser known hero/villains of the time Grenville, Newport and many others. A cracking good read indeed. But this is like a text book so be ready for a lot of words you have to look up.

[Speesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know about you, but I love reading non-fiction history books like this, as much as I like reading fiction books. Packed with interesting information, insight and juicy tidbits all the way through, it really is a pleasure to lose myself back in the 1500s once again.

However (I won’t say ‘but’ as of course ‘everything before the ‘but,’ is bullshit,’ as you well know) when a book is so richly and densely packed with detail and insight as 'Elizabeth's Sea Dogs' is, I wonder how much of it can we really hope to take in? How much of it am I going to be able to recall a year from now? In my case I spend the first half of such a book worrying I'm not going to remember all this. Then I relax, remind myself I’m not actually going to get tested on it afterwards, enjoy the second half and resolve to dip back in and out should the need arise in the future. It is nigh on impossible to take on (or in) the wealth of facts presented here and it’s probably more beneficial to my overall reading experience, to know I have this book available to me in the future, if I need. I think if you're more relaxed when reading you probably absorb more. But then, how much should/could/can I really reasonably expect to learn, or remember, of books like this? I would imagine, if you were right now asked to write down what happens, in a book of fiction you read and enjoyed a year ago, you might reasonably be expected to fill a half or two thirds of an A4 page. So why, when a book like this is packed with ten times the information of the average fiction book do I expect myself to remember more, but think I will actually remember less?

So, I think we’re dealing with impressions. And my impression is, that this is an excellent book for background of the period, written by an author clearly at the top of his game and it is packed with wit, style and strong opinions. See here; “It says much about the demise of once-thriving Tudor scholarship in England, that the most recent biography of Sir John Hawkins is a prissy tome, whose premise is that he was ‘Queen Elizabeth’s slave trader’, written by Harry Kelsey, an American archivist so mitred in the modern obsessions of the American Academy that he projects them back to the 16th Century.” You gotta love an author who doesn’t mess about and names names. He knows he’s writing the definitive piece on the period, don’t you think? Surely, no one is going to dare to venture he might be mistaken in his opinions. And live to write again…

It kicks off with a very interesting look at how different - and yet how amazingly similar - these first Elizabethans were to us second Elizabethans (I am still an ‘Elizabethan’ until I take Danish citizenship, OK?). Right off, you’re with him in what he knows of the period and not thinking “Errol Flynn” every time there’s mention of Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh and the like. He then looks at the society and social conditions that gave rise to the ‘golden age’ of Elizabethan exploration, conflict and conquest. Good and bad. The good are Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher and Elizabeth. The bad are the various Popes, Philips, Spaniards and Catholics in general. We go all the way through the period until, of course, Elizabeth’s death and what this time meant for later periods and the way Britain developed afterwards. The overriding impression of the period I’m left with is - how on earth did they achieve so much, travel so far and fight when they got there, when lack of even a basic understanding of hygiene (especially that when large numbers of people are gathered to get her for extended periods) so decimated their numbers? Like eating lemons to avoid Scurvy, for example. You were a Lemon seller in the ports of England at the time, you went bankrupt! Forget cannons, muskets and swords, perhaps the most deadly weapons the English had, I seem to remember one Spanish source speculating, was the deadly diseases their ships arrived in the Americas/Spanish ports, riddled with. You don’t see sailors dropping like flies in the background of Errol Flynn’s version of Sir Walter Raleigh, but you do in ‘Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs.’ It often reads as though to have survived as long as some of them did (and the life expectancy was low, because so many died young, a fortunate few could indeed live around about as long as we do now) you needed to be born lucky. That includes of course, being born rich, but as the book often details, that didn’t safeguard you against deadly diseases cooped up on a galloon on the Spanish Main, with several hundred others all suffering from all sorts of rampant diseases. Or from falling out of favour with the wrong people at the Palace…

And what a set of bastards they were. Not just to the Spanish, but also to each other. And what a penny-pinching, dithering, old schemer Queen Elizabeth I was.

If you read this, or this sort of period is your ‘thing’, I can also recommend ’The Confident Hope of a Miracle. The True Story of the Spanish Armada’ (the title line there is also quoted in 'Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs’), by Neil Hanson. As well as ‘The British in the Americas 1480 - 1815’, by Anthony McFarlane. All, along with 'Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs’ are more than worthy of a place in the Non-Fiction section of your bookcase.

[mike hann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard read but worth it

The author assumes that his readers will know a little about the subject. The book has many parts that need to be reread to keep the thread but it's an accurate, well researched book that holds your interest throughout.

[Hanna (lapetiteboleyn) · Rating 4 out of 5]

For non fiction, which has a reputation for sometimes being quite dry, this was hugely entertaining. Full of anecdotes (Richard Pike getting so drunk he staggered into the road, thus alerting the Spanish to the presence of an ambush? I died.) and dissections of famous naval exploits.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oops, wrong book for me. I was looking for something more holistic about Britain's nascent relationship with the far side of the Atlantic. The draught of ships wasn't needed, but if you want detail: get in here.

[Charlie K · Rating 5 out of 5]

crazy swashbuckling stories, sprinkled with plenty of rare history dits

[Cary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a book that could have - and, given the rather awesome material it was working with, ought to have - been amazing. We're talking corsairs here - Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins, and many others. It was a time of great adventures, and great (although not necessarily good) men. This should have been fascinating, enthralling, one of those books you race through because it's just that interesting.

It wasn't.

This was, I deeply regret to say, tedious. Dull. A slog from start to gritted teeth, I've-started-so-I'll-bloody-well-finish end. And it was so disappointing. I hoped for so much from this book, and it almost totally failed to deliver.

Now, to be clear - the information is all there. The research is meticulous, thorough, detailed. And he really likes you to know that, or so it felt. You know, I really don't care what tonnage EVERY SINGLE SHIP was. I'm interested in the social history, the politics, the adventures, the intrigue. But the author has all that information, and by gum he's going to make sure you have it too. Alas, I found the subject fascinating, but the writing style to be turgid, a little pompous, and at times grating when the authorial voice intruded too much.

[Linda Root · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this as a research tool, but it is a total delight. It is full of information, is actually a comprehensive history of the politics of Elizabeth's latter days as queen,exposes all of the colorful secrets and scandals, and entertains while it educates. Anyone interested in the rise of English sea power,the identity of the true shakers and movers at Elizabeth's court, and the stories behind the rise of the English (soon to be British) Navy, this is a very painless way to digest an incredible amount of amazing history.

[MD Hillman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book would be better than it was considering the title. The first few chapters were nothing to do with the subject and when the author did at last start on the Sea Dogs he flipped from one character to another and back again. I had to re- read a number of paragraphs just to understand who the author was writing about. The information as a whole gives the impression that most of the Navy were bumbling idiots and only achieved anything through luck. I was glad to finish the book in the end but gave it the 4/5 for the historical content. Disappointing really

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Avast ye sea dogs or we'll sink ee!" Eminently readable while neatly informative for anyone who wants to know what annoyed Phillip of Spain into sending that pesky Armada!

[G. Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous book. Interesting and engaging, well-written. Not dull for a moment. Highly recommended