Brags and Boasts : Propaganda in the Year of the Armada

UK: Alan Sutton Publishing Limited. Very Good/Very Good. 1994. Hard Cover. Sm 4to 0750906138 Dust jacket complete, unclipped. Black cloth with bright gilt titling on spine. No ownership inscription. xiv + 226 pages, illustrations, notes, sources, index. Clean and tight. The naval engagements between the English and Spanish fleets at the time of the Armada lasted barely two weeks; by contrast the propaganda war conducted between the two countries raged for well over nine months, with results that still make their presence felt today, over four centuries later. For the first time this book tells the story of this remarkable campaign, revealing, analysing and placing in context the widespread manipulation of the media by which sixteenth-century governments sought to stir the emotions of the populace. The media at the time of the Armada included rumours, assemblies, processions, plays, bells, beacons and bonfires, sermons and homilies, prayers, petitions, letters and forms of address, proclamations, demonstrations, books, pamphlets, and ballads, as well as show trials and public executions. Never before has there been an analysis of how these varied means were employed to introduce and spread the myths of the Armada: that the Spaniards arrogantly called their Armada `Invincible'; that Pope Sixtus V issued a bull deposing Queen Elizabeth and urging her subjects to support the invader; that Catholics fought loyally alongside Protestants in defence of their Queen and country; that David's small ships defeated the giant navy of Goliath; that God favoured Protestants by the weather; and that the Spaniards wrecked in Ireland were massacred by the wild Irish. This superb book, based on over twenty years of extensive research, is a sharp and brilliantly focused analysis of the ways in which distortions of the truth arise and are perpetuated. Not only does it provoke a radical reassessment of the events of 1588; it also carries significant implications for our modern understanding of history and also for our interpretation of events in today's media-dominated world. .