The Armada

This book stayed on my shelf for quite some time because I thought it was a bit of a stuffy history tome and heavy going. Once I got past the first couple of pages I could not put it down. A wonderful insight into religious nonsense of 1588 and how it ruined the lives of so many Europeans. . . . For nothing. Much as it still does today when children are indoctrinated into a “faith” * before they are old enough to think for themselves.

One of the saddest things the book relates is that the sailors who fought so bravely and worked so hard and survived, returned to their respective countries and starved to death.

* Faith: OED: Belief without evidence.

High school world history classes have a simple explanation for the "Armada". A lot of little English ships took on the Spanish, clumsy ships, outdid them rather like David with his slingshot, the Spanish were destroyed and the England went on to conquer North America, and the Spanish simply withered away. Mattingly's book shows a much different event. What really won the day was an attack prior to the Armada's launching on the Spanish mainland, destroying barrels that would have held the fresh water, the encounters were more evenly matched than high school history tells it, and this was not quite the turning point in world history that has been made out.

This is a very well written, entertaining book and would be good supplementary show more reading for high school or college, and a pleasant couple of evenings for the person who is simply reading for pleasure. show less

Garrett Mattingly's description of the events of King Philip's "Enterprise of England" is an excellent read. It follows the story from Mary's execution at Fotheringhay to the end of 1588 on a day by day basis, looking at events not only in England and Spain, but in Rome, France, the Low Countries, and wherevere else related things were happening. It is written in a lively and readable style, protraying the various characters as real people and often quoting from contemporary dispatches and reports.

You can smell the powder and sea air in this classic narrative history of the 1588 Armada. Tells all sides brilliantly but gloriously, if subtly, Whiggish.

This book was in my house growing up, and I read it over and over -- it's wonderfully written. It needs to be pointed out, though, that Mattingly was a diplomatic historian. N.A.M. Rodger, in the bibliography to the first volume of his magisterial naval history of Britain, Safeguard of the Seas, says that this book is still valuable on the political and diplomatic background to King Phillip's assault -- but as far as the actual sea combat goes, it's negligible.

1413 The Armada, by Garret Mattingly (read 17 Oct 1976) This is a well done book, albeit footnoteless, and its English bias is muted. In fact Mattingly is quite favorable to Medina Sidonia, the Spanish commander. Mattingly lays the ground carefully, and the book is half over before the Armada sails. Nevertheless, on the whole I read the book without much interest. I knew the outcome. The book begins with Mary Stuart's execution at Fotheringhay on Feb 18, 1587, and ends Jan 1, 1589.

Incredibly intelligent and compelling framing of the world surrounding a cataclysmic event.