The Voyage of the Armada

I picked up this book almost at random to write a book review for my Tudor-Stuart English class. The book is written in a narrative format that really helps you follow the story - for an avid fantasy book reader, it came across almost as a real book and not just a dry history text. The book has a real narrative feel that gives it a lot of strength. Recommended if you are interested in the Armada, or historical naval battles.

Howarth, an English historian, takes a look at the Spanish Armada debacle from the Spanish point of view, using letters and documents culled from the Spanish national archives. He awards first prize for the disaster to King Philip, a first-rate numbskull whose foolhardy strategy and tactics doomed the fleet before it ever left port. Thanks to him, Spain has been a second-class power ever since. Duke Medina Sedonia, fleet commander, gets far more sympathetic treatment than his boss: despite having not a shred of military or nautical experience, he displays heroic courage and equanimity in the face of near hopeless odds. Besides these two, Horwath delves deep into the personalities of many other key participants on both sides, including Drake, Frobisher, the de Valdes cousins, Recalde, and the energetically inactive Duke of Parma. The narrative is compact yet sweeping: in a mere 250 pages, Horwath gives good account of the religious and political motives behind the mission, the military strengths and weaknesses of both sides, tactical and strategic developments in sixteenth century naval warfare, and the misery endured by the sailors and soldiers of the Armada. He describe of the various fates of the doomed Spaniards with heart-wrenching passion, but includes some rousing tales of survival and escape that truly lift the spirit. Well done!

This wonderfully descriptive book by the English author, David Howarth, is well worth reading if you have a desire to learn about the Spanish Armada and the "Enterprise against England". Although this book, `The Voyage of the Armada' (1981) is not as detailed as `The Armada' (1959) by Garrett Mattingly, its still a great story and well worth the time to read.By all accounts this story of the enterprise is told as it was seen through the eyes and experiences of the Spanish soldiers and sailors and is very well done in that regard. Using first hand accounts found in numerous Spanish letters and reports, many previously not utilised before, the story comes alive and gives you a real feeling and understanding of the participants, many who did not survive to tell their tale.One aspect of the book that I found pleasing was that the author took the story past the battle with the English fleet. David Howarth provides the reader with an account of what happened to the ships and men who actually survived the "dash" up the Channel. Those who were shipwrecked along the Irish coast were subjected to even more terror than they had experienced so far and very few survived. The real hero of this story is Medina Sidonia, the commander of the Spanish ships, and I found myself wondering could anyone have done any better under similar circumstances? This is a great story with an exciting narrative and although it only runs to 250 pages (hardback edition) I found I came away with a better understanding of what happened and why. This book would be a great companion volume to `The Armada' by Garrett Mattingly but can stand alone as a decent and well presented account of the "Armada".

The story of the Spanish Armada, as told by David Howarth, is built from his research of original Spanish archives. Apparently, he may have been the first to do so. Other historians had relied on English sources. That principal fact makes the story more compelling than other histories of the event. Secondarily, Howarth reports on innovations and errors. For example, the Spanish invented the "convoy" and convoy tactics. This prompted the English to invent the "wolfpack." Maritime historains will be interested in the accidental development of these strategies.Business management students will get to study the consequences of central planning and micromanagement by the Spanish King. Howarth does a good job contrasting the Spanish model with the decentralized style of the English.A good read on several levels.

Told from the Spanish point of view, Howarth follows the doomed expedition from beginning to end. Quoting from letters, logs, and other documents, Howarth is able to put the reader-listener into a 16th century mindset -- to understand how people can continue on a path many knew would fail. And how a king, confusing God's will with his own, could brush off every problem in the belief that God would take care of it. Even those who believed in the mission would have had misgivings about the seaworthiness of the ships when, as Howarth says, after 11 days of hard sailing they were further from England than when they had started. To readers only familiar with the defeat of the Armada as a great naval victory, here's the rest of the story