Under Drake's Flag

By: G.A. Henty

Narrated by: Fred Williams

"A match at bowls was being played in which Drake and other high officers of the fleet were engaged, when a small armed vessel was seen running before the wind into Plymouth Harbor, with all sails set. Her commander landed in haste, and eagerly sought the place where the English lord admiral and his captains were standing. He was master of a Scottish privateer, and he told the English officers that he had that morning seen the Spanish Armada off the Cornish coast. At this exciting information the captains began to hurry down to the water, but Drake coolly checked his comrades and insisted that the match should be played out. 'There is time to finish the game first, and beat the Spaniards afterwards,' he said."

Such was the confidence of this daring privateer. His superb navigational skill enabled him to outrun or outmaneuver his incessant pursuers. He escaped so often and so ingeniously that he became legendary and was assumed by some to have supernatural powers.

(P)2001 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"In this old-fashioned tale of incredible escapades, a lad accompanies Sir Frances Drake on several amazing voyages. One of G.A. Henty's classic historical novels for children, this story also provides adults a glimpse of the exciting but ruthless life on the high seas and unexplored lands of the sixteenth century." (AudioFile)

Enjoyed all of it even the narration.

Amazing story, thoroughly enjoyed it and the narration didn't bother me a bit. I have heard much worse.

slow reader

loved the story, but the reader was really slow. just listen to it a 1.3 speed and it's perfect

Great story

The narration is a downer at first but the story is great and I got used to the monotone of the narrator. He does use inflections but they are subtle until you become accustomed to it. Definitely worth the read so don't let the narrator throw you off this -one of Henty's best books!

Great story, though sketchy history

I had no idea when I purchased this audiobook that it was a "children's story." I was put off by the screech "children's audible!" at the beginning and almost returned it, but I had liked the audible sample, so I started listening to it anyway. It's a fictional story about a boy who goes adventuring with Francis Drake, and it is very enjoyable, in an old-fashioned way. It's a much better story than most of the other "young adult" books I have come across, in that it does not dumb down the subject or fill the main characters with incessant angst. Personally I would not recommend it for a young person without some accompanying information though, because it is filled with prejudices that I would want to counter. For example, I would want to explain that it's highly unlikely that English adventurers taught native people of the Americas what fire is and how to use it. Today's authors seem to err on the side of political correctness, which is not at all appropriate for the time period of the story, but I would not want to perpetuate the idea that the people encountered by explorers in the age of discovery were essentially proto-human either.

Under Drake's Flag

I loved it and I think it was the best book in the world

Engaging story about early exploration

The history of Captain Drake's voyages is expertly woven through the fictional accounts of several boys apart of the crew. Their many adventures make this a very engaging story. I usually speed up his books since they are so long. Overall I'd say I enjoyed it, I just found the parts about the inquisition a bit much for a book geared towards teens. Henty tries to explain the inquisition by saying it stemmed from religious fervour and was actually not as horrific as it seems to modern ears given the horrific forms of capitol punishment in that day. Which historically I think is true, but it just felt a little too dark to dwell on in this genre. As always though, Henty is a masterful writer of historical fiction and you learn so much about the era.

Destroyed by the reader

The above reviews are absolutely correct, the story is great but the reader is atrocious.

Dreadful waste of a credit

Please don't take this review as a negative criticism of the book - the text is interesting and typical of the genre but the narration is truly dreadful! I thought we had entered the era of interesting, animated readers and I have had many good listens with Audible but Oh Dear! the reading of this book is really, really bad. The pace is such that I thought the playback speed was just wrong. Even when you get used to the slow, slow pace of reading then there is no expression in the voice. Don't waste your credit on this!

Really Boring!!!

I was so much looking forward to a rollicing tale of adventure, which it well might be... but the story is deleivered in a truly tragic monologue. We turned it off after just a couple of minutes. How sad!

Not what I expected.

What would have made Under Drake's Flag better?

it was supposed to be theater in audiobook form and it was just some old monosyllabic fool reading a book.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The whole thing stunk

How could the performance have been better?

Do what it was advertised to do which was to be engaging and entertaining. I'd never subject my grandchildren to this boring an account of some very important history lessons.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Great disappointment.

Any additional comments?

Don't advertise it as one thing and then sell something else. What a waste of time.