Condition: Acceptable: Signs of wear and consistent use. See images for the condition of this book.
Blurb: Out of the England of Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots, an England desperately trying to save itself by playing off France against Spain, Donald Barr Chidsey has created his best novel. His story centers on George Fitzwilliam, a young man of better birth than means; to keep body and soul together, George becomes John Hawkins' man and soon finds himself the unwilling courier in top-secret negotiations between England and Spain, and between Elizabeth and Mary. While naturally suited to the diplomat's role, he detests its duplicity; worse still, he soon finds his life in danger, and to save himself he sets sail with one of the up-and-coming "new men," Francis Drake. Filled with the stunning excitement of the sea, the deep intrigues of court life, and the mounting political pressures that culminated in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Reluctant Cavalier is a historical novel on a truly grand scale that describes an era when old values were dying, an era in transition....
Blurb: Out of the England of Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots, an England desperately trying to save itself by playing off France against Spain, Donald Barr Chidsey has created his best novel. His story centers on George Fitzwilliam, a young man of better birth than means; to keep body and soul together, George becomes John Hawkins' man and soon finds himself the unwilling courier in top-secret negotiations between England and Spain, and between Elizabeth and Mary. While naturally suited to the diplomat's role, he detests its duplicity; worse still, he soon finds his life in danger, and to save himself he sets sail with one of the up-and-coming "new men," Francis Drake. Filled with the stunning excitement of the sea, the deep intrigues of court life, and the mounting political pressures that culminated in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, Reluctant Cavalier is a historical novel on a truly grand scale that describes an era when old values were dying, an era in transition....