Sir Francis Drake (1541? - 1596) - "Her Majesty's pirate" of Queen Elizabeth Tudor, slave trader and vice-admiral of the British fleet, was undoubtedly the most titled sea robber. Rising from the bottom of English society, receiving the title of knight and becoming a sir, Drake made a huge fortune for himself by robbing Spanish galleons. His ships terrified the Spaniards all along the Latin American coast. He became the first captain to circumnavigate the world, since Magellan did not return home. Drake led the defeat of the “Invincible Armada.” The biography of Sir Francis Drake is in itself an adventure novel, and under the pen of such a recognized master of battle-historical books as Francis van Wyck Mason, his novel “The Golden Admiral” turned into a fascinating read for the most discerning lover of historical fiction.