Kings, Queens, Sailors, Spies!: How Francis Drake's Secret Mission Claimed California and Fooled the Mapmakers...

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William Briggs Briana Monaco

Kings, Queens, Sailors, Spies!

Name: Kings, Queens, Sailors, Spies!
Price: 44.06 AUD
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ISBN: 9798234013989

How Francis Drake's Secret Mission Claimed California and Fooled the Mapmakers for 200 Years...

William Briggs, Briana Monaco

$51.95 $44.06

Paperback

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English

William Briggs
04 March 2026

History of the Americas; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900; Historical geography; Local history

1579. Famed English privateer Francis Drake navigates the Pacific Northwest on a clandestine search for the fabled Northwest Passage, aided by Portuguese sea secret pilot Nuñez da Moreira. Left on the rugged California coast and sent on a perilous secret mission, Moreira survives only to face the dreaded Spanish Inquisition and, under torture, reveals secrets of Drake's voyage and that California is an island.

The Spanish government chooses to allow the geographical mistake for two hundred years to deny English claims to North America in a tense game of deception and conquest between empires in the New World. A documented reimagining of the first European explorations of California by sea and land, KINGS, QUEENS, SAILORS, SPIES! tells how the greatest cartographers of the Age of Discovery got it wrong.

By: William Briggs
Cover design or artwork by: Briana Monaco
Imprint: William Briggs
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 318g
ISBN: 9798234013989
Pages: 270
Publication Date: 04 March 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

William Briggs is a retired California State University Dean of Communications and author of four previous volumes of California and U.S. History. He lives in Morgan Hill, CA.

Reviews for Kings, Queens, Sailors, Spies!: How Francis Drake's Secret Mission Claimed California and Fooled the Mapmakers for 200 Years

""...a speculative and provacative perspective that will delight readers, even if it causes traditional historians some discomfort.'' - From the foreword by Marco Meniketti, Ph. D., Professor of Archaeology, San José State University