A rousing biography and rollicking seafaring adventure that tells the story of the English privateer commissioned by Queen Elizabeth to fight the Spanish Empire on the high seas around the globe

In 1586, as the Anglo-Spanish War reached its boiling point, Elizabeth I authorized Thomas Cavendish to become a privateer for England and embark on an expedition to fight the Spanish Empire. His voyages will take him to the other side of the world, where he would seize Spanish galleons and plunder ports throughout the Pacific.

Cavendish’s victories would include the capture of the Spanish treasure ship Santa Ana off the coast of California—heavily laden with over six hundred tons of cargo, including gold, silks, and spices, and nearly two hundred prisoners. After circumnavigating the globe, he returned to London for a hero’s welcome from the Queen herself. Cavendish would ultimately die at sea on a subsequent expedition, the victim of treachery and a mutinous crew, but his accomplishments would enshrine his legend in English maritime history forever.

Fast-paced and vividly rendered, The Queen’s Pirate is a nonfiction historical narrative in the tradition of David Grann’s The Wager, and Patrick O’Brien’s classic bestselling Aubrey-Maturin novels—or any reader with a love of the sea and a taste for adventure.

Iain Gately was raised in Hong Kong, studied law at Cambridge, and has a PhD in literature from the University of Southampton. Iain is the author of one novel and five works of nonfiction, including Tobacco: A Cultural History, Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol, and Rush Hour: How 500 Million Commuters Survive Their Journey to Work. He lives in Dorset, England.