Résumé
Résumé de Le Premier des Anglais
Go deeper: the whole of Le Premier des Anglais
About 6 h 40 min to read.À qui s’adresse-t-il ?
Readers who enjoy sea chases, secret ciphers, sword fights, disguises and love across enemy lines will find a fast, cheerful companion here. It suits anyone curious about Elizabethan daring and the Dutch struggle for freedom.
De quoi parle ce livre ?
Picture a black night in the spring of 1572. A gale pushes the sea over the dikes of the Netherlands, and a small English warship races up the flooded Schelde with no buoys to guide her. Her young captain, Guy Stanhope Chester, steers by the feel of the water and the smell of the shore. From the coat of a drowned man he pulls a packet of secret letters, and it sends him straight into the lair of his enemy.
The First of the English is a historical adventure by Archibald Clavering Gunter, an American novelist who died in 1907. He sets a spy story and a love story inside the Dutch revolt against Spain. The hero is a secret agent of Queen Elizabeth, hunted by the harsh Duke of Alva. You get sea chases, disguises and real history, told with speed and humor.
Dans ce résumé
- 1A gale and a sea chase begin everythingFree
- 2A mysterious lady orders him to the citadel
- 3In Antwerp a secret friend shares shocking news
- 4A drinking bout hides a deadly errand
- 5Elizabeth refuses food but supplies powder
- 6A dying engineer sells the secret of a statue
- 7War closes in at Haarlem and on the ice
Point clé 1 sur 7
A gale and a sea chase begin everything
In the early spring of 1572 a northwest gale drives the sea over the dikes of the Netherlands. Captain Guy Stanhope Chester steers the Dover Lass up the Schelde in pitch darkness. The Spanish have torn out every buoy, so he trusts his lead line, his nose and his boatswain, Martin Corker.
Corker spots gun flashes in the dark. Guy sends boarders into two boats without a sound. One carries Dirk Duyvel and his Sea Beggars, rebels who live as half pirates under William of Orange. The other is a Spanish state barge with three frightened women and an Italian whom the Beggars have tied to a rope and towed behind in the water. Guy buys the whole capture from Dirk for three hundred crowns in silver.
The Dutch call Guy the First of the English, and Alva has branded him an outlaw. Queen Elizabeth publicly disowns her agent while she relies on him in secret.
The Italian is drowned past saving, but Guy feels something sewn inside his coat. It is a packet of letters in Spanish cipher, wrapped in oiled silk. Guy decides to take the Spanish barge up to Antwerp himself, posing as a Spanish captain named Guido Amati. His first officer, Harry Dalton, calls it throwing his life away. Guy answers that he would do it for his queen.
A single stolen packet can turn a night of storm into a war of secrets.
That’s 1 of 7 key points.
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Go deeper: the whole of Le Premier des Anglais
About 6 h 40 min to read.Questions about Le Premier des Anglais
What is The First of the English about?
It follows Sir Guy Chester, a secret agent of Queen Elizabeth during the Dutch revolt of 1572. He slips into Antwerp in disguise, uncovers a plot against his queen, falls in love with Alva's daughter and hunts the Spanish viceroy's hidden treasure.
Who is the First of the English?
It is the nickname the Dutch give to Guy Stanhope Chester. They hope he is only the first Englishman to help them and that others will follow. Alva has put a large price on his head.
Is The First of the English a true story?
No, it is a novel, but it uses real history. The Duke of Alva, the tenth penny tax, the Sea Beggars, Queen Elizabeth and the siege of Haarlem are real, while Guy, Hermoine and Oliver are the author's inventions.
Is The First of the English easy to read?
Yes in its pace, with short chapters, lively dialogue, plenty of humor and clear action scenes. Each chapter has its own small goal, such as a chase, a disguise or a duel, and that keeps the story easy to follow.
Who is Hermoine de Alva?
She is the Duke of Alva's daughter, a bright and spirited young woman whom Guy rescues from the Sea Beggars. She first meets him as a stranger, trusts him and sets her heart on the man she believes he is.
Cite this edition
Gunter, Archibald Clavering. The First of the English. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-first-of-the-english.
Gunter, A. C. (2026). The first of the English. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-first-of-the-english (Original work published 1895)
Gunter, Archibald Clavering. The First of the English. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-first-of-the-english.
@book{gunter2026first,
author = {Gunter, Archibald Clavering},
title = {The First of the English},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-first-of-the-english},
note = {First published 1895}
}
