It was Britain’s bid to take over the Pacific and run the Spaniards out of
the Peruvian silver mines. It failed. George Anson didn’t take an inch of
territory in his journey round the world and he lost an astounding 1400 of his
crew. But Glyn Williams’s stirring saga, The Prize of all the Oceans, reveals
that he grew rich on plundered silver and, what the heck, it was one of the
great epics of Britannia’s wavy rule. Published by HarperCollins, £19.99,
ISBN 0002571250.
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