Backgrounded by Queen Elizabeth and Mary Stuart, George Fitzwilliam pursues a historical course which hinges on Master John Hawkins; Cecil, Lord Burghley; Captain Francis Drake; the atmosphere of piracy, treason, and the business of a spy. Released from a prison in Seville after his capture in Mexico, George, hating the sea and ships, would return to his Anne but Hawkins orders him to seek out Mary Stuart -- and there his heart is lost. But more piracy, new ventures, a voyage around the world from East to West, the ""legal"" killing of Mary, and the final thrust of the dons with George's ennobling in the defeat of the Armada, packages this breathless careering. Hardly always believable -- but always an active and flashlight spotting of history, this makes few demands upon its readers and achieves an energetic entertainment.