All these books are concerned with what the Spaniards once called the Felicissima Armada and what the English still, with a quiet smile, call the Invincible Armada (apparently it was Burleigh who first thought of the word, shortly after the event). They differ very much in approach, in emphasis, and even in conclusion - Mia Rodrigues-Salgado, for example, feels that the enterprise increased Philip II's reputation, particularly in the north - but they all of course agree in trying to place the disastrous voyage in its context.

LRB 7 July 1988 | PDF Download