In 1588 the Spanish Armada had been defeated in the English Channel and the whole of Elizabethan England was alert for the revenge that surely had to follow.

Men like John Killigrew, commanding a key position on the Cornish coast, were vital to the survival of the country, and it is through the eyes of his eldest son, Maugan, that the story unfolds. Rich in action, it is also crowded with unforgettable characters, many of them based on actual historical figures.

Maugan Killigrew himself emerges, through his loneliness and his love, his physical suffering in a Spanish gaol, as a touchingly honest and believable character who is, above all things, a man of his time.

'Absorbing . . . written with sure skill, a nice feeling for character and a vast knowledge of the 16th century.' New York Times

'Lusty and rewarding - all the excitement of a nation at war with Spain.' Daily Express

'Winston Graham has such a knowledge of Elizabethan Cornwall, such fidelity to fact and atmosphere, that I am conquered, as no doubt his many readers will be.' A. L. Rowse

'The canvas is wide, the picture stirring and brilliantly detailed. This is a rich, absorbing tale of a corner of England during hazardous times, and of a full-blooded family.' Oxford Times