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Review
| Drake: The Life and Legend of an Elizabethan Hero, by Stephen Coote. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005. 337 pages. $27.95, cloth.
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| From its opening pages, Stephen Coote's Drake: The Life and Legend of an Elizabethan Hero alerts the reader that this is no ordinary biography. It is a fast-paced, quick read that successfully brings Sir Francis Drake to life. Coote takes the reader on Drake's adventures from his earliest days slaving on the African coast to looting the Spanish empire, including his daring circumnavigation of the globe. Both the complexities and contradictions of Drake are brought to life: a hero and a criminal, a devoted Protestant and a religious zealot, an English nationalist and a self-serving individual. Throughout the book, the reader is left both cheering for Drake, and recoiling at his appalling behavior. |
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For the history teacher, the book is an important resource because Francis Drake is often sanitized in textbooks. Coote provides plenty of instructional fodder, including exciting anecdotes which will engage students at any level. He addresses exactly what many textbooks leave to the imagination of the student: he defines "pirate" in the sixteenth century meaning of the word. With Drake as a resource, students should no longer rely on the popular image of a swashbuckling Disney character sailing the high seas. Instead, we see a ruthless man who leads raids of Spanish ports, captures enemy vessels, and stops at nothing to fill his pockets with silver. He also is the man who is willing to execute those of his men who get in his way. Drake brings mighty Spain to its knees, yet eventually stumbles under the weight of his own flaws. |
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Stephen Coote also provides the classroom teacher with plenty of ammunition for discussion. How does one reconcile Drake's faith with his actions? Was his "loathing of Spain" which "would continue to burn with undimmed ferocity" truly justified? Or was it merely a justification for his actions? Was Drake a Protestant national hero or was he a villain who abandoned John Hawkins at San Juan de Ulúa and had Thomas Doughty beheaded? |
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In a minor yet interesting part of the book, Coote briefly examines the historiography of Drake and he consistently alerts the reader to problems of gaps in the sources with phrases such as "the original of this manuscript has been lost" and "Drake's private life is almost entirely invisible to us.". His criticisms include nineteenth century authors who used Drake to further English national interests such as the Crimean War or imperialism. In an odd aside, however, he sharply criticizes Christian "home schoolers" for their use of a novel about Drake by G. A. Henty, and adds: "Despite their anti-Semitism, overt racism and glorification of violence, Henty's novels have achieved a cult following among the Christian Right in the United States." |
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While trying to put the "Elizabethan Drake" in his proper historical context through historiography is a worthwhile endeavor, using the middle of a biography to spew venom at those whom Coote sees as intellectually unworthy is simply a waste of the reader's time. Furthermore, how does Coote know what home-schoolers read in the privacy of their own homes? He does not cite a source for this diatribe, and leaves the reader wondering why he decided to throw a minor tantrum in the middle of his book. Does he have a problem with Christians, or Americans, or both? His scholarship could be impeccable, but the reader might question it as a result of his poor judgment. Has his agenda colored his view of history? |
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| Whitman-Hanson R.H.S., Whitman, MA |
Robert Davidson |
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