In May of 1588, on the order of Spain's King Philip, 30,000 soldiers and sailors armed with arquebus and musket set out to sea. A larger fleet had never before been assembled. In the Voyage of the Armada, David Howarth brilliantly conveys the drama of the Spanish Armada's progress and brings to life the personalities of the men who influenced its course, from the dogmatic and irrational Philip II to Don Juan Martinez de Recalde to Don Pedro and Don Diego de Valdes, who were cousins but also bitter enemies, to the Spanish soldiers and sailors who unquestioningly ventured into unknown seas to confront their fates. Basing his narrative on previously unexplored Spanish sources, David Howarth shows that there is always another side to every conflict. The Voyage of the Armada recounts the adventures of these brave men as they go from battles to storms to wrecks and then finally - for the lucky ones - return home. (5 1/2 x 8 1/4, 256 pages, map)