Raleigh

Summary

Based on letters and some information previously unavailable, the author gives "a full portrait" Sir Walter Raleigh (1554-1618): poet, soldier, courtier, spy, explorer, and popularizer of tobacco use. It is also one of the first biographies to emphasize Raleigh's private life—and not the historical events surrounding his career—from youth through fame, travel, disgrace, and gruesome execution.