📗 Libro en inglés THE CONFIDENT HOPE OF A MIRACLE

''Continual destruction in the foretop, the pox above board, the plague between decks, hell in the forecastle and the devil at the helm.'' It is the summer of 1588, and the fate and future of England hangs in the balance. Obsessed by the dream of reclaiming England for the Catholic Church, Philip II of Spain has assembled a huge fleet of castle-crowned galleons ripe for the task. Lying in wait in the Netherlands lies a battle-hardened Spanish army, ferocious professionals with a taste for rape, looting and atrocity. Across the Channel the English are scraping together bands of barely trained men, many armed only with scythes, stakes or longbows. Great warning beacons stand all along the coast of England. Their only hope lies in the English Navy. But Philip''s Armada is doomed before it even leaves port. As soon as it engages with the English fleet, its shortcomings are clear in the face of superior tactics and firepower. Within hours, the mightiest fleet ever assembled is mercilessly harried into fleeing north, at the mercy of the elements and the dream of subduing the Protestant English lies in tatters.A triumphant combination of historical detail and storytelling flair, The Confident Hope of a Miracle draws on undiscovered and little known personal papers and records to tell the epic story of the Spanish Armada in all its scope.