Victorian Girls: Lord Lyttelton's Daughters Book

This is an amazing book, researched in great detail, describing the reign of Elizabeth I through her foreign policy, especially when it came to her privateers. Elizabeth needed money to defend a vulnerable England against Catholic Spain, while aiding and abetting the Protestants in Spanish-owned Low Countries. Only through her relationships with Europe's Protestants could England maintain trade across the Channel. Where better to take the money than from Spanish treasure ships? This book describes the journeys of Elizabeth's pet pirates, like Drake and Frobisher (who I seriously thought only ever discovered the Arctic, and had no idea had also been on slave-stealing trips to Africa), from the ships and how they were supplied, to the reactions of the Spanish as they were raided. It covers the lost Virginia colonies, which were not so much lost as left to their own devices in between privateering raids and defense against the Armada. "Pirate Queen" covers every step of Elizabeth's path through history, and how she used every single tool at her disposal, including her privateers, to keep her country defended. A truly outstanding and fascinating read for anyone even remotely interested in the subject matter.