The Winchelsea Devil

Eustace Busket was a pirate genius who fought for England and then for France. Born near Boulogne, his life is intimately connected to Winchelsea in Sussex. He was trained as a satanist in the schools of devilry in Toledo, Spain. He learned the ways of the sea in the Mediterranean, then came to England and became its admiral with a house in Winchelsea and a palace in London. He captured the Channel Islands and after King John had committed an atrocity against him, he went to France and became the admiral who planned the French invasion of England to ensure that a French prince became King of the English. His demise was just as spectacular as his life, and he deserves to have his own legend as a man fighting for himself alone. Welcome to the amazing world of Eustace Busket, England's greatest pirate - and paradoxically, one of France's greatest admirals. The book describes his nightmare youth, then life as a monk, a university-level satanist, leaving Spain to become a Mediterranean admiral who learned skills from the Italians during the Crusades. On his return, Eustace raided the French coasts as a pirate and privateer for King John and then sided with Dauphin Louis to raid his former homeland and help to invade it with thousands of troops. This is a book full of drama and surprise. His legendary magical ability and the Battles of Damme and Sandwich in Kent are also described.