The book by a Russian historian and marine painter introduces the reader to the biography of the most famous English corsair and naval commander, the first English circumnavigator. A contemporary and favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, Tudor, her “iron pirate” and business partner, knighted for his military exploits, Drake was able to rise from the lower levels of the hierarchy of British society to the rank of admiral, played an outstanding role in saving the fatherland from the invasion of the Spanish Invincible Armada in 1588, became a national hero of England. The biography is written on the basis of a large number of foreign sources, which makes it possible not only to present a bright, contradictory image of the main character of the story, but also to plunge into the everyday life of the Elizabethan sailors who challenged the largest empire of that time - the world empire of the Spanish Habsburgs, which “never entered sun.” Sign of information products 16+