All About, Sir Walter Raleigh by Henrietta Buckmaster. This is Buckmaster’s contribution to a series of books (the All About series) for young readers. Sir Walter Raleigh emerges as a complex, heroic individual whose life of adventure is marked by great highs and lows. The book is an exciting read: Raleigh faced challenges in staying in the good graces of Elizabeth I and then James. Though Raleigh himself was straightforward and honest in his dealings, he was often at the mercy of duplicitous and treacherous friends who plotted against him. They were sometimes successful, and he was in and out of the Tower of London several times during the course of this story. On several occasions, his popularity with the people saved him from execution. Among his great achievements were his expeditions to the New World. In Guiana he made friends with the local population and allied with them against Spain. His eventual demise could be attributed to petty jealousies but also to his failure to produce the abundant gold he believed he would find in America.. Buckmaster quotes a poem he wrote on the eve of his death:
Even such is Time! who takes in trust
Our Youth, our joys and all we have,
And pays us but with earth and dust.
