This biography presents Drake through the accounts of friends and enemies on both the national and personal level. From his family's fierce love of Protestantism, and their early poverty which drove him to sea while still a boy, until his death at sea in 1596, it was a life of drama in which opportunism, courage, greed, religion and national policy all played a part, alongside the sailing skill and navigational brilliance of the first man to sail all the way around the world. His naval battles and audacious piratical raids on Spain's empire and shipping are described using eye-witness accounts from both Spanish and English and his stormy personal relationships reveal a man whose distrust of colleagues contrasted with a generosity of spirit which was a source of wonder to his enemies.