Captains from Devon: The Great Elizabethan Seafarers Who Won the Oceans for England - Hardcover

YA The men of Queen Elizabeth's times who sailed for the glory of their queen, as well as their own fame and fortune as navigators, were for the most part Devon men who had learned to read wind and tides, maneuver ships and build stout vessels. Miller graphically and lucidly presents the history of these explorers, adventurers and courtiers, bringing to life such figures as Richard Grenville, Humphrey Gilbert, the Hawkins family and Francis Drake. After tracing English seafaring history through its early growing pains to its triumphs at the Armada and beyond to domination of the seas, Miller ends the book with a detailed account of Walter Raleigh, poet, explorer, scientist, royal favorite and seaman. His death in 1618 brought to a close a colorful chapter in the history of navigation. Miller makes those times much more accessible to 20th-Century readers. A useful, carefully researched book for enrichment in social studies classes. Mary T. Gerrity, Queen Anne School, Upper Marlboro, Md.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A remarkable feature of Elizabeth's reign was the number of English seafar ers who called Devon their home: Haw kins, Frobisher, Davis, Gilbert, Drake, Grenville, and Raleigh. Hill recounts the great exploits of these men with somewhat more detail on their early private lives than in Neville Williams's handsome book The Sea Dogs ( LJ 4/1/ 76), a volume that contains many of the same illustrations. The longest chapters of Hill's book recount the defeat of the Armada and the life of Walter Raleigh. Overall, a pleasant overview for gener al readers of highlights from a fascinat ing era. Walter P. Coombs, Jr., Biolo gy Dept., Western New England Coll., Springfield, Mass.
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.