Francis Drake and Nova Albion: Elizabethan Voyaging on the Far Side of the World

Sir Francis Drake was one of England’s greatest and most controversial maritime heroes, celebrated as a daring explorer and a feared privateer. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth I after circumnavigating the world (1577–1580), he was the first English mariner to explore the Pacific coast of North America.

In this richly detailed narrative, acclaimed naval historian Barry Gough revisits the swashbuckling “Age of Drake,” focusing on the explorer’s circumnavigation and his 1579 landfall at Drakes Bay, California, where he claimed “Nova Albion” for England.

Drawing on decades of maritime research and firsthand study of the coast’s perilous geography, Gough combines vivid seafaring narrative with incisive political history. He explores how English mariners learned pilotage and navigation from Spanish and Portuguese seafarers, battled storms and shoals on an uncharted Pacific coast and used nautical skill to undermine the world’s dominant power, Spain. He brings to life not only the perilous voyage of Drake’s Golden Hind, but also the fierce imperial struggle hidden behind it—a contest fought with maps, secrecy and the armed sailing ship, the newest technology of empire.

Gough also charts the long shadow of Nova Albion, examining how later British navigators—including Cook and Vancouver—searched for and reaffirmed Drake’s claim, extending Britain’s imperial footprint from Alaska to California and shaping what would one day become Canada’s Pacific province.

Authoritative and deeply researched, Francis Drake and Nova Albion is a must-read for anyone with an interest in one of maritime history’s most colourful heroes and his ties to the Pacific coast of North America.

“Once again, Gough delivers a page-turning account of epic proportions, peopled with the great, the God-fearing, and the greedy, and detailed with the deft touch of the sailor historian. I particularly rejoice in revisiting Drake’s ‘Backside of America’, once my particular cruising ground aboard the 1812 privateer Lynx and 1778 replica Swift. Indeed, I have anchored in Drake’s Bay on occasion to await the dawn and the Gate’s fogbound entrance. To do so in the literary company of one who ranks with Magellan and Columbus is an informative delight. Highly recommended!”

“Based on his extensive knowledge of English seafaring and exploration, Barry Gough revisits Francis Drake’s famous circumnavigation with fresh insights and depth. He contextualizes Drake’s exploits from an English perspective, examining the controversies related to the voyage with a balanced approach and careful attention to the available evidence. Well organized and engagingly written, the book should appeal to specialists and general readers alike.”

“Here is the real story of the first circumnavigation of the globe by an English vessel. In December 1577, Francis Drake sailed from Plymouth aboard the tiny Elizabethan galleon Pelican, and when she returned on September 26, 1580, she had looted the unsuspecting Spanish settlements on the Pacific coasts of South and Central America, captured Spanish galleons and their treasure, claimed the first territory in the Americas for Queen Elizabeth on the California coast … Barry Gough has brought all his historical knowledge and research skills to record the real facts of this very important and long-neglected story.”

“With this elegant tour de force Gough has achieved a marvelous balance; while it is thoroughly and meticulously researched, appealing to the academic seeking knowledge, it is also a pleasant read—never pedantic—and will eminently suit the casual reader as well.
It will surely become an esteemed reference for generations to come.”