"Sir Walter Raleigh is the most boyish hero in history. Till his head fell on the block he never lost his eager, generous interest in life. He was planning adventures when other men are dull & middle-aged." So wrote John Buchan in his introduction to this life of Sir Walter Raleigh, told in eleven stories. Born in 1552, Raleigh was a man who took risks. Buchan admiers this & covers is career as a brilliant courtier, soldier, sailor, great discoverer, statesman & scholar. He follows Raleigh's progress from favourite of Elizabeth I to his fall from grace under James I. His three expeditions to America & his failed expedition to the Orinoco in search of a goldmine led to his execution in 1618.