This lush, lyrical fantasy is Steinbeck's sole work of historical  fiction. Henry Morgan ruled the Spanish Main in the 1670s, ravaging the  coasts of Cuba and America and striking terror wherever he went. His  lust and greed knew no bounds, and he was utterly consumed by two  passions; to possess the mysterious woman known as La Santa Roja, the  Red Saint, and to conquer Panama and wrest 'the cup of gold' from  Spanish hands.