Pirate Novels: Fictions of Nation Building in Spanish America. By Nina Gerassi-Navarro. (Durham: Duke University Press, 1999. Pp. x, 251. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $17.95.)
Kelsey's conclusions are sure to stimulate further discussion. He holds that Drake was simply a pirate. He raided vessels with foreign flags, confiscated their cargo, then sold it for himself. He was an autocratic officer. Although frequently placed in a situation of shared command, he always wrested total power to himself. He was uncomfortable with shared command and sought to undermine those who might have claimed support themselves, even to the point of executing a member of his command staff on the world-encompassing voyage. Kelsey contends that contrary to many Protestant depictions, Drake was not a particularly religious man, although he frequently used religion as an excuse or a justification. The cause and persona of Drake, nevertheless, were to provide many authors with vessels into which to pour their own values. Yet, contrary to the vision of the Spanish and their colonists, Dcake was probably not as fierce, nor as effective a foe as he has been painted. Spanish claims of his depredations were frequently exaggerated, and, in fact, Drake was probably a mediocre commander, but he more than compensated for that by sheer audacity.