Originally published in 1961

This masterly study of the guns used by the rivals in the Armada campaign remains an essential contribution to the understanding of the event, for it gave a new perspective to the whole battle.

The long-drawn-out struggle in the summer of 1588 was the first major sea-action which was a straight artillery-duel and nothing else. With that the ship-borne gun began its long reign which lasted unbroken from the Armada to the Coral Sea and Midway Island.