author
Walter Raleigh
d. 1618
A court favorite, explorer, and poet, he became one of the most vivid figures of Elizabethan England. His life swung from royal favor to long imprisonment and execution, giving his story the sweep of an adventure and a tragedy at once.
2 Audiobooks
The Last Fight of the Revenge
by Walter Raleigh
The Discovery of Guiana
by Walter Raleigh
About the author
Born in Devon around 1552, Walter Raleigh was an English courtier, soldier, writer, and explorer whose career rose under Queen Elizabeth I. He helped lead English efforts in Ireland, supported voyages to North America, and became closely linked with the failed Roanoke colony, which helped fix his name in the story of early English expansion.
Raleigh was more than an adventurer. He also wrote poetry and prose, and during his years in the Tower of London he worked on The History of the World, an ambitious unfinished book that shows the range of his learning. His writing helped preserve his reputation long after his political fortunes changed.
After Elizabeth's death, he lost favor under James I, was accused of treason, and spent many years imprisoned. A later expedition to South America ended badly, and he was executed in London on October 29, 1618. Today he is remembered as one of the best-known and most complicated figures of the Elizabethan age.