Book Description
To mark the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar, fought in October 1805, comes
The Trafalgar Companion, a lavishly illustrated volume that surpasses, in both scale and authority, anything ever published on this historic naval battle.
Customer Reviews:
Magnificent book.......2007-04-02
It's one of the best books of that type I've ever read, too much details, but not boring, explains everything and gives you a full idea about how the seamnship of that period, strategy life at seas and of course of the battle of Trafalgar. I would reccomend it without any hesitation.
Probably the title of the book isn't so attractive as it's the book itself.
Tremendous value.......2006-03-15
What a book! This book is huge and contains just about everything you would want to know about the people, the ships and the battles. I was really impressed to see the hour by hour description of the battle and the detailed descriptions of the ships appearance as well as its statistics.
I have no hesitation in recommending this book.
A GREAT book on Nelson's Navy.......2006-01-19
The Trafalgar Companion is probably the best reference book on the Royal Navy in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. It has about 550 pages of small type and is jam packed with information. However, it is much more than its title suggests.
This book could probably be divided into three main parts: the life of Nelson, the Trafalgar campaign, and the background of the Royal Navy. There are nine sections, each with subsections and most with an epilogue. The epilogues comprise the first part, as they describe some aspect of Nelson's life or career. If one wanted to read only about Nelson, one could jump to the end of each chapter and read a very good biography of Nelson. The epilogues include his early life and career, the battles of St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen; his stay at Naples, Emma, and a few others. The reader really comes to know a great deal about Nelson. The second section, the background of the Royal Navy, gives the reader about 150 pages on topics such as ship construction and classification, seamanship, navigation, officers, seamen, marines, uniforms, gunnery, tactics, and many others. This section alone is invaluable to understanding the Royal Navy. The third section is about the Trafalgar campaign. The subsections include British and French naval strategy, the fleets, command, opening moves, the battle itself (about 60 pages), and the aftermath of the battle.
So, what makes this such a great book? The topics have all been discussed in tons of other books. Well, first, this book is like an encyclopedia--it brings everything together under one roof. If you want Nelson, you got 'im. If you're reading Hornblower, Ramage, Kydd, or Aubrey and you need some background info on some topic, it's here. However, this book is more than an encyclopedia. If you have several hours to spend on a great story--the battle itself--you've got a great read in front of you. Second, in addition to the text, this book is filled with hundreds of illustrations, diagrams, lists, quotes, maps, paintings, and drawings. For example, the section on fleet comparison devotes a page to each ship from both fleets. The pages include a drawing of a ship, its rating, number and type of guns, number and type of crew (i.e. naval, infantry, marine), a biography of its commander, what the ship did during and after the battle, and, for the British, a list of all its officer--all the way down to the purser! In the section on guns, gunnery, and tactics, there are eight fabulous color illustrations, each covering two pages. The first is a cross section of the Victory with all the rooms labeled. The ship looks like a mini city. Then there are top-view illustrations of each deck. Not only are the guns and other parts of the ship labeled, but also where crew members would have been assigned. I didn't know that a marine was assigned to each gun on the ship. In some cases even known personalities can be placed in certain areas on deck. There is even a page showing the number and arrangement of lanterns to indicate signals in the presence of the enemy! I particularly like the 19 maps in the battle section. The reader can follow the movements and firing of the ships throughout the battle. There are so many topics and all are treated exhaustively.
I could go on and on giving examples of the breadth and depth of this book. Besides the information, the color illustrations and quality of paper make this book visually pleasing. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars. It's worth every penny you'll pay for it-you won't need anything else.
Fantastic coverage of Trafalgar.........2006-01-07
The Trafalgar Companion by Mark Adkin looked very much like his Waterloo Companion that he wrote earlier. The book covers three subject matters. First is the Trafalgar campaign and battle. Second is the biographical overview of Horatio Lord Nelson and finally the third coverage deals with anatomy of navies and ships of this period although the Royal Navy get most of the coverage. Each three subjects are spread apart into sections and interlocked with the overall coverage of the topic. There are also many side bars notes that inserts interesting trivial if not important information regarding the subject matter at hand.
The book proves to be well written, well researched and easy to read. There are over 200 illustrations that covers everything from battle scenes, diagrams, tactical maps, drawings, ship equipments and so on. There are several pages of a great cross section from the top down on HMS Victory (deck by deck) which showed the ship in battle readiness and show the positions of each crew member by position and officers. There's also a full page coverage on each British, French and Spanish ships involved in the battle as well as history of some of its officers. I can write considerably more on all the great stuff that this book contains.
It pretty obvious that the author went all out to provide one of the most complete coverage of Trafalgar campaign and battle within a single volume. Each of the subject matter appears to be well written and researched. Nelson's biography may not be as detail or indepth as some of the full scale biographies but the coverage proves to be impressive and insightful. All of Nelson's previous battles are in the this book and well covered. While not as detail as Brian Lavery's book, Nelson's Navy, the study of the Royal Navy in this book should satisfied almost anyone. The coverage of the campaign and battle of Trafalgar proves to be complete and highly detailed, helped by charts and maps that gives a clear understanding of the subject at hand.
There is also a short but detail coverage of post-Trafalgar period, fate of the ships, officers and burial of Nelson. Interesting tidbits that can only enchance the reading experience.
In conclusion, while there are books out there who may do a better job covering just the battle or just Nelson or just the details of wooden navy, I believed no book does a superior job in putting all three together and making it work. The 555 pages of this book is crammed with information that can only benefit the reader to the utmost. Its well worth the price you pay.
A Must Have.......2006-01-03
This is one of the most outstanding books on the subject of Trafalgar, Nelson and the sailing navy I have come across. The small details are brought vividly to life in a way that makes interesting reading. The artwork in this book is specially commissioned for the book and is therefore technically accurate. This differs from other books on this subject that use art from around the time with foot notes explaining the technical inaccuracies in the pictures. The life of Nelson is covered in detail and is tied in with explaining life in the navy of the time interspersed with stories of individuals of various ranks and what their life was like. Personal stories, where available, are included to bring the whole picture to life. The artwork along with all the maps and diagrams is in full colour making everything easily understandable.
Book Description
A dazzling biography that is destined to be the definitive account of Horatio Nelson's life for generations
How did Horatio Nelson achieve such extraordinary success? In this authoritative biography, the eminent scholar Roger Knight places him firmly in the context of the Royal Navy of the time. Nelson was passionate and relentless from the outset of his career; his charisma and his coolness in battle are legendary. But his success depended also on the strength of intelligence available to him, the quality of the ships he commanded, the potency of his guns, and the skill of his seamen.
Based on a vast array of new sources, this biography demolishes many of the myths that have for two centuries surrounded Nelson. Knight demonstrates that this great Romantic hero was in his time a shrewd political operator and often a difficult subordinate. He was occasionally na•ve, often impatient, and only happy when completely in command.
Readers will emerge from this biography with a greatly enriched understanding of this singular man-one who was brilliant, severely flawed, and never to be crossed.
"A wonderfully clear portrait of a complex man, seen squarely in his time. There is every reason to think that this superb work will become the definitive Nelson biography." (The Economist)
Customer Reviews:
An Engrossing Description of Nelson's Career and Era.......2006-11-18
I highly recommend The Pursuit of Victory: The Life And Achievement of Horatio Nelson, a new biography of England's greatest warfighting admiral, Horatio Nelson.
This biography does a superb job of providing context and background for Nelson's astonishing rise to fame and his equally astonishing victories at sea--and lesser known defeats, which always occurred on territory unfamilar to Nelson, i.e. land. We find that the extreme risks of Britain's war with Napoleonic France created a brief window of opportunity for commoners such as Nelson to rise within the class-conscious and peerage-dominated Admiralty. Merit was so essential to victory that the Admiralty could not afford to advance captains by favoritism alone.
Equally interesting is the author's careful descriptions of the role of mentors in Nelson's career arc--captains and admirals above him in the bureaucratic Royal Navy who guided, aided and promoted him, not so much to benefit themselves but in recognition of his talents. Without these mentors--several of whom he maintained as close personal friends until death--his rise from the ranks of hundreds of junior captains to admiral at a young age would not have happened.
Not that Nelson enjoyed a perfect career. A gross political miscalculation--falling under the influence of the King's ne'er do well son, who had been given a position as Admiral not on talent but on birthright--caused Nelson's career to falter at a critical juncture. Having fallen out of favor for his destructive sycophancy, Nelson was sent home without a command, where he languished for seven long years as a poor gentleman landowner.
A renewal of the war with France gave him one more chance, and with the aid of his mentors, he assumed command of the Mediterranean Fleet (bypassing many jealous senior admirals), enabling him to score his first great strategic victory in the Battle of the Nile.
Life at sea was not easy, and Nelson was often ill and exhausted. Having lost an eye and an arm in two land engagements (he was deployed twice to joint Army-Navy commands, both of which ended badly, partly due to Nelson's ignorance of land warfare), he was often in pain. he also had to make judicious political decisions regarding allies, harrass the Admiralty for supplies, maintain discipline on a huge fleet of wooden ships in poor weather, and a host of other challenges which would have ground down by sheer workload alone a lesser commander.
This engaging, masterly paced work covers not just Nelson's life but the political context of the Royal Navy and the role of senior commanders in his rise to the highest levels of command. It is a portrait of one man's life set within a detailed account of his family, era, superiors and comrades.
Best One Volume Biography on Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson.......2006-10-20
Noted Nelson scholar Roger Knight has written an elegant biography of Great Britain's greatest fighting admiral, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, which was published shortly after the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar; both Nelson's greatest victory and the scene of his tragic, yet heroic, death. But is it the definitive biography devoted to Admiral Nelson's life and career? Although it does come close, regrettably, the answer is "no", since another eminent Nelson scholar, John Sugden, is currently at work on the second volume of his Nelson biography, which will cover Nelson's exploits from late 1797 to the Battle of Traflagar, which occurred on October 21, 1805 (This review is being published here at Amazon.com one day prior to the 201st anniversary of this battle.).
Knight covers Nelson's life and career in a massive tome of more than 800 pages, breaking it down into five sections. Much to my amazement, Knight has successfully covered Nelson's life and career from his birth in 1758 to his appointment as captain of HMS Agamemnon in January, 1793 in slightly more than a hundred pages, "I Youth and Disappointment 1758-1793" (Readers who think they are missing important aspects of Nelson's career should turn instead to the first volume in John Sugden's Nelson biography, "Nelson: A Dream of Glory", which emphasizes the young Nelson's rapid rise through officer ranks to becoming among the Royal Navy's youngest post captains.). Here Knight demonstrates how Nelson relied upon patronage from well-connected relatives like his uncle Captain Maurice Suckling and substantial exposure to good seamanship and officer conduct, which allowed him to secure rapid promotion to Post Captain and command of a frigate during the American Revolution. We also get our first glimpse of the heroic Nelson through his participation in an ill-fated joint Royal Navy and Army invasion to seize Nicaragua from the Spanish, which will not only cost him his command of a heavily armored frigate, but also his good health, and indeed, almost his life. Knight covers succinctly Nelson's two tours of duty in the British West Indies, devoting substantial coverage to Nelson's adulation of the mediocre Prince William Henry, later, Duke of Clarence, and eventually, King William IV, assigned to Nelson's command as a junior Royal Navy frigate captain (Here we see Nelson's unabashed admiration for royalty emerge unexpectedly, which will have serious consequences for his career in the late 1790s.).
The biography's second section, "II Maturation and Triumph 1793 - 1798" covers Nelson's early career during the French revolutionary wars, chronicling his eventual rise to Rear Admiral and his hard-fought victories at the battles of Cape Saint Vincent and the Nile. Nelson learns how to command a squadron at sea, cultivating friendships with many of the Royal Navy officers who would become his celebrated "Band of Brothers"; distinguished captains such as Thomas Troubridge, Samuel Hood, Benjamin Hallowell and Thomas Masterman Hardy. Knight also discusses Nelson's complex relationships with his superiors, most notably Admiral Sir John Jervis, later Earl Saint Vincent, his commanding officer at the Battle of Cape Saint Vincent. We also witness the disastrous attack on Tenerife, Santa Cruz, in the Canary Islands, which nearly costs him his life.
The biography's third section, "III Passion and Discredit 1798- 1801", is devoted to the most controversial period of Nelson's career; his service as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, in which he finds himself supporting unabashedly the Bourbon royal dynasty of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Knight demonstrates clearly that Nelson's actions in "liberating" Naples following a French-supported popular insurrection, were motivated solely by his notions of loyalty and duty to a royal family in dire need of both, and though quite critical of them, he does not agree with Terry Coleman, author of "The Nelson Touch: The Life and Legend of Horatio Nelson", that these acts amounted to war crimes. Moreover, he demolishes completely the myth that Nelson fell immediately in love with Emma Hamilton, the young wife of Britain's ambassador to the Bourbon court at Naples, showing that it blossomed months later. And Knight, while sympathetic to Nelson, does show that Nelson's actions immediately before and after the Battle of Copenhagen, left much to be desired for someone serving as a fleet commander.
In "IV Adulation and Death" Knight opens with Nelson, now living openly with Emma Hamilton, enjoying nearly 18 months of peace, finding time to take a leisurely journey through Wales and serving in the House of Lords. With the resumption of hostilities between Great Britain and Napoleonic France, Nelson, now a vice admiral, returns to the Mediterranean Sea as the Royal Navy's Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, hoisting his broad pendant aboard HMS Victory. Some of Knight's finest prose is devoted to the long chase across the Atlantic Ocean to the West Indies in search of French admiral Pierre Villeneuve's fleet, culminating of course in the bloody Battle of Trafalgar. In "V Transfiguration", Knight describes not only Nelson's funeral in London, but also takes stock of the admiral's character, yielding a sympathetic, yet highly nuanced, appraisal of Nelson's life and career.
"The Pursuit of Victory: The Life And Achievement of Horatio Nelson" includes several appendices, of which the most important ones are the brief chronologies of the major events in Nelson's life and career, and of world events during Nelson's life, especially with regard to the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. There is also a chronological recounting of Nelson's service aboard various Royal Navy warships, which, regrettably, isn't nearly as succinct as both chronological outlines. Less successful, but still quite useful, are the brief biographical sketches devoted to Nelson's family, friends, and associates, both in the British government, and of course, in the Royal Navy itself.
The Best Biography of Nelson I've Read.......2006-06-05
As others have noted, there are many biographies of Nelson, and almost all of them suffer from the same problem: that a man so brilliant, talented, contradictory, demented, jealous, generous, gracious, foolish, naive and clear-thinking is very hard to understand. The fact that his death at the triumphant British naval victory of Trafalgar in 1805 immediately turned his life into legend, means that from first to last it's been hard to get a handle on Nelson the flawed but unique human being.
I've read many biographies of the man, and I was shocked to find that many second-hand truths fine biographers have relied on in prior biographies are incorrect. Knight's meticulous scholarship, his lifetime of study of the age of fighting sail in Britain and France, means that his careful analysis of sources in this book is stunning and irrefutable. No book I have ever read on Nelson is so thorough in finding every possible source to illuminate the daily life at sea, as well as by land, of this remarkable leader. That he quietly sets the record straight on innumerable myths and errors of past biographies with grace is simply another pleasure of the book. The fact that Knight deals tautly with the fairly disastrous consequences of Nelson's affair with Emma, Lady Hamilton, without letting it swallow his book, is a fine achievement. The heart of Nelson's importance in English history lies in his life at sea, and there Knight's study is especially enlightening.
Although not a book for everyone - you need to want to learn about both Nelson and the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars - I tend to agree with the dust jacket blurb, that this book will be THE definitive factual study of Nelson. But as Knight himself admits - in the end, the whole of the man is greater than the sum of his parts, and probably always will be.
Great Nelson Biography.......2006-05-02
There is no shortage of books about Nelson. The past couple of years have added several more titles. There is no shortage of interest in the man, and the great days of the Royal Navy.
This book is very good--I doubt there are any better. It is detailed, full of new information, and extremely readable. The man can write, and the book carries you away.
Nelson is presented as a man with some great abilities-- and some faults. He did not always distinguish himself, but he never made any fatal blunders. It is interesting to note that he, too, was able to benefit from connections--something that was almost impossible to get along without in the Royal Navy, with so many officers, and so few ships.
Nelson's faults did cost him, but his strengths and abilities overcame them. He was lucky. His ability to ignore orders helped him, when it would have hurt others. His connections carried him through other difficulties, and , in the end, he was the right man at the right time.
As is usual, the reader also comes to appreciate his great friend Collingwood. If Nelson had a secret weapon, it had to be Collingwood, who was less impetuous, and more reasoned in his actions. His behavior and skill helped Nelson more than a few times. This book, like so many others, makes it obvious.
Nelson will always fascinate--his affair with Lady Hamilton, his bravery in battle, his fearless method of attack, and his brilliance always appeal to new generations. A great story about a great man.
Praise for author - keelhaul the publisher!.......2006-04-11
This 800-plus page book, painstakingly put together by its author is one of the worst copy-edited books I have ever seen. Additionally its binding is cheap and flimsy. There is no pagination of the charts it includes and the biographical sketches that could clarify much of the text are hopelessly out of order. It is another demonstration that slovenliness in publishing is acceptable.
Book Description
The most authoritative and captivating account ever written of legendary British naval commander Horatio Nelson's early career and rise to prominence
Among military and naval commanders, Horatio Nelson stands as one of the finest examples of inspirational leadership. The historian John Sugden charts the period of Nelson's career neglected by earlier writers-from childhood to his breathtaking victory against the Spanish fleet at Cape St. Vincent when he became an admiral, lost an arm, and won international fame. Like Alexander of Macedon, Nelson led from the front (not always a sensible custom). But he was a natural leader and a genuine hero, and his actions invariably raised his stock with his men, who trusted him as a commander willing to share their dangers.
Nelson combines groundbreaking scholarship with a vivid and compelling narrative style. Detailing every facet of Nelson's crowded life, the author offers the only full account of Nelson's early voyages and the first complete analysis of the formative incidents in his career. Throughout there are revealing and startling discoveries about Nelson's relationships with family, patrons, officers, and men-and with his women. Previous biographies have failed to penetrate the mythology encrusting one of the world's greatest naval heroes, and none has been based on a thorough examination of original sources.
Nelson will immediately become the benchmark against which all subsequent books about Nelson will be judged. It is a biography of the best sort: compelling, authoritative, and thrillingly alive.
Customer Reviews:
England's Greatest Naval Hero.......2006-09-09
There are possibly more books on the shelves of bookshops (certainly in England) about Nelson than any other English hero and because of the recent anniversary of Trafalgar many more have either been written or re-printed. How does the reader pick one out from the rest. Well my own recommendation would be to buy this particular volume,
In the historical time scale, Nelson lived and died in the fairly recent past, so many of the books written about him are only regurgitated facts that have never been checked properly, or may have no foundation in factual terms. John Sugden has left no stone unturned in his quest for the truth, not only about the public persona of the man, but also gives a brilliant insight into the life of the private man. His hopes, his fears, his weaknesses and his strengths.
John Sugden's writing style is both lively and stylish and does not leave the reader feeling overpowered with dull facts that he or she cannot take on board. Yes the book is a historical work, but it is written with a sensitive touch that almost makes the reader think they are reading an adventure novel. This is achieved without prostituting the historical content in any way. I enjoyed it immensely.
Excellent.......2006-07-03
This is a very detailed biography of Nelson, the best that I have read. It really deserves a high rating.
At almost 800 pages of narrative and 943 pages total, you really get your money's worth here (if money was an issue). It's thicker than your phone book if you're from Montana or the Dakotas. Heck, it's almost as thick as my Seattle phone book. And after reading it, my wrist muscles have become curiously strong.
What I like about it:
It is very detailed, this author really has spent the time to do the research and read the correspondences and contemporary accounts, it's no summary of already written books. That's very heroic in itself. I have a feeling that it's one of those rare books where academia is it's own reward and not just the profits, not that a biography of Nelson is going to be a bestseller (Maybe would have been in 1806).
Gives a very good feel of what Nelson was like as a person and professionally. All over the book Sugden gives us his impressions of Nelson and backs it up with correspondence and notes from either him or the people he dealt with.
Discussed his personal life in some detail, which is good because many other authors glossed over it, especially historical authors who had certain limits of decorum.
Gives a very good background of the naval service in Nelson's day and the political situation, that in itself was worth reading the book for. In fact, I can also say that it's the best description of the Royal Navy and the political situation from the naval services point of view at that time that I've ever read - not only informative, but serves as a backdrop of how Nelson developed and why he did the things he did.
When some things could not be explained, he did explain that no accounts or correspondence could be found to explain it.
This is not a book for the amateur. For the serious reader, the detail is what makes the book so absorbing, I revel in the detail, keep it coming. This book is not exceptionally easy to read. Again, serious readers will not find that a hurdle. For readers looking for a lighter (and shorter book) a search through Amazon will give you a lot of hits - just look for one about 100 pages long.
The minor negatives of the book
1) Some of the minutae was too minute, however, I easily skipped over those small parts. For a book of this caliber, better to have too much (which I can always skip over) rather than to have too little.
2) I wished that some actions were described in more detail, but perhaps there were no good accounts.
3) I wish there were some more maps and maybe some diagrams, but this ain't a picture book.
Overall, a very, very good biography. Highly, highly recommended. I look forward to part two. Meanwhile, some wrist strengtening exercises with the barbells.
Good, but just when things started getting exciting...........2006-06-28
As we know, not all history books are alike. Many are dry, while others try to make it interesting by either making stuff up or writing like Tom Clancy. Sugden does a good job of engaging the reader with interesting narrative, while clearly distinguishing facts from conjecture. You definitely get a taste for Nelson's charm, drive, as well as foibles. There is a lot of maritime terminology, but if you're interested enough to read an 800-page book about a naval hero, you can probably handle an occasional trip to the dictionary.
So I found the book very exciting, but I have one major complaint. The author claims to aspire to make this book the new definitive Nelson biography. He tells in great detail his glories of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and then his great failure at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where he lost his arm. Nelson gets really depressed, and returns to England. Then there is a conclusion of his career. Sugden observes that even though Nelson was depressed at the time, and likely to retire, no one could have imagined what glories were still ahead. The end.
How can you have a definitive Nelson book, 800 pages long, and not include the Battle of Trafalgar? Argh! Admittedly, the vook title tells it right there, since these things happened after 1797. But if you're reading the book to learn about these things, well, you get the idea. I guess I'll have to read a different book to discover why his statue is in Trafalgar Square...
NOTE: Rumor has it this is part one, and supposedly Sugden will be writing another book, to tell the rest of the story.
Definately Not Boring.......2006-02-23
Its difficult for me to improve on the several excellent reviews of this work that have preceded mine. But most importantly I want to state quite categorically that this is not a boring book. Biographies by their nature are not action stories, they must discuss periods of their subjects life that are perhaps bland and slow, but without this our understanding of the person would be incomplete. Nelson was not solely defined by his actions in the great naval engagements in which he fought.
Nelson was a fascinating bundle of contradictions, self serving and adulterous, disparaging of superiors he perceived as inept yet immensely loyal to able subordinates, devoted to his country, and personally courageous. He was a man who embodied the fighting spirit of the Royal Navy at the peak of its prowess and whose methods of warfare continued to influence the navy for another century.
I await the second volume of this work with great expectations.
A Relentless Bore.......2006-01-26
This is a truly awful book. Sugden writes well enough, and no doubt the book is AUTHORITATIVE, but anyone looking to be entertained should simply forget it. The author never met a detail he didn't like, but by the end of this book, the reader will have met more than he can count. Simply put, Sugden goes into such detail about so many insignificant and downright dull matters that he loses any sense of perspective and entirely fails to creat an interesting and READABLE account of a truly interesting life. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Average customer rating:
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Nelson's Purse: The Mystery of Lord Nelson's Lost Treasures
Downer M
Manufacturer: Smithsonian
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Book Description
The compelling story of Lord Nelson's long-lost letters and personal effects.
Much has been written about Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson, whose glorious naval career ended at the Battle of Trafalgar, where the half-blind, one-armed Nelson, wearing a blood-stained purse, gave his life to secure Britain's supremacy for another century. Yet Martyn Downer's surprise discovery of an unknown treasure trove of Nelson's letters and personal effects puts existing accounts of the hero into question. This find of a lifetime provides an intimate look at the personal life of the brilliant commander through the eyes of his closest friend, Alexander Davison—the confidant not only of Nelson but also of his mistress Lady Hamilton and estranged wife Fanny. As Downer reveals in this extraordinary tale, Davison's correspondence with Europe's most famous love triangle is the key to a new interpretation of Nelson. From their first meeting in 1782, Davison shared the triumphs and suffered the setbacks with Nelson, managing every aspect of his civilian and personal affairs. Downer's narrative releases long-forgotten voices from never before published correspondence as Lady Hamilton, Lady Nelson, and Nelson himself reveal previously unknown depths of their turbulent triangle. 30 b/w illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Lost Treasure.......2006-09-07
Martyn Downer, the author was Head of Jewellery at Sotheby's in London from 1999 to 2003. At the beginning of July 2002, Sotheby's announced to the world the discovery of a major cache of material relating to the life of England's greatest naval hero, Horatio Nelson. The man who made this extraordinary find and who subsequently spent over a year validating the material and placing it in the context of Nelson's life was Martyn Downer.
While the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar has brought out an abundance of books about Nelson, this book stands out amongst them because of its content. This is not a book about the great man's battles and conquests, nor about his ships or his men, although they are of course mentioned. This is a book about the chance finding after many years of some of the most famous possessions of Admiral Nelson himself. Possessions that were thought to have been lost over a century ago.
Among the items found are his swords, medals, pistols and pottery and porcelain. Also letters, both to his wife Fanny and his mistress Emma, Lady Hamilton. To be able to handle items that had been lost for so long must have been a wonderful experience for the author and to find items that have never before been documented must have been truly exciting.
This is a book that gets into the heart and mind of the greatest naval hero England has ever had, or ever likely to have.
Amazon.com
The story of Great Britain was written in seawater, and no period was more important than the two decades under scrutiny in Dean King's Every Man Will Do His Duty. This collection of memoirs, diaries, and accounts written by Royal Navy personnel (both English and American) during the Napoleonic period will be a sure hit with any reader who has devoured the Aubrey-Maturin novels of Patrick O'Brian. Every Man Will Do His Duty—the title is, of course, Admiral Lord Nelson's famous admonition to his sailors at Trafalgar—pulses with the vividness, immediacy, and honesty that only primary sources can supply. The book is filled with intriguing details of war as it was practiced on the high seas from 1793 to 1815. Editor King has done an excellent job selecting his sources; in addition to views from the captain's quarters, Every Man Will Do His Duty boasts plenty of material penned by mariners of a much humbler station; their accounts provide the bulk of the book's humor. Fans of the nautical novel will find this book a worthy addition to their library, and so will students of English history.
Customer Reviews:
A wonderful glimpse of Iron men on wooden ships.......2001-10-09
"Every Man Will Do His Duty" is an anthology of 22 excerpts from actual diaries and journals of men who served in the the British and American navies during the late 18th century and early 19th century.
I loved this book. Each selection was entertaining and well chosen, both for the glimpses the provide into the lives of the officers and men who served on such ships, and for their historical context (Such as Dr. William Beatty's account of the death of Horatio Nelson).
I'd strongly suggest it to anyone who enjoys Naval History, or historical fiction (Such as Forrester or O'Brian) on the subject. Give it a read, it's worth it.
A wonderful glimpse of Iron men on wooden ships.......2001-10-09
"Every Man Will Do His Duty" is an anthology of 22 excerpts from actual diaries and journals of men who served in the the British and American navies during the late 18th century and early 19th century.
I loved this book. Each selection was entertaining and well chosen, both for the glimpses the provide into the lives of the officers and men who served on such ships, and for their historical context (Such as Dr. William Beatty's account of the death of Horatio Nelson).
I'd suggest it to anyone who enjoys Naval History, or historical fiction (Such as Forrester or O'Brian) on the subject.
22 Great True Stores from the Napoleonic Era.......2000-08-08
.
If all you read in this book is "The Audacious Cruise of the Speedy", you will have gotten your money's worth.
If the only stories you read are the two chapters from the Nagle Journel, "For the Good of My Soul, 1795," and "Mad Dickey's Amusement, 1798-1800", you will have gotten your money's worth.
But you get more than this. You get a total of 22 stories picked from many to capture the history and character of the times.
If you like Patrick O'Brien, and C.S. Forester, you will enjoy the history that gave seed to these stories. You will recognize the events of Lucky Jack Aubrey's fiirst cruise in the cruise of the Speedy, and be amazed.
Index of stories:
1. In the King's Service, 1793-1794
2. Commence the Work of Destruction: The Glorious First of June, 1794
3. The Noted Pimp of Lisbon and an Unwanted Promotion in Bull Bay, 1794
4. For the Good of My Own Soul, 1795
5. The Would as Soon Have Faced the Devil Himself as Nelson, 1796
6. The Battle of Cape St. Vincent, 1797
7. Mad Diskey's Amusement, 1798-1800
8. The Fortune of War, 1799
9. The Audacious Cruise of the Speedy, 1800-1801
10. Bermuda in the Peace, 1802-1803
11. The Battle of Trafalgar, 1805
12. The Death of Lord Nelson, 1805
13. An Unequal Match, 1807-1808
14. With Stopford in the Basque Roads, 1808-1809
15. When I Beheld These Men Spring from the Ground, 1809
16. "Damn'em, Jackson, They've Spoilt My Dancing," 1809-1812
17. The Woodwind Is Mightier than the Sword, 1809-1812
18. HMS Macedonian vs. USS United States, 1812
19. An Unjustifiable and Outrageous Pursuit, 1812-1813
20. A Yankee Cruiser in the South Pacific, 1813
21. Showdown at Valparaiso, 1814
22. We Discussed a Bottle of Chateau Margot Together, 1812-1815
Down to the Sea in Ships.......2000-06-24
For anyone who is interested in naval warfare in the age of sail in general, or in the Napoleonic period, this book is a must. It is simply superb.
This anthology of first hand accounts covers events in both the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, including the War of 1812, in which the Royal Navy getting some very nasty surprises, and even nastier defeats, at the hands of the small, but expert United States Navy.
Some of the subjects covered are the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797, the sea fight between HMS Macedonian and the USS United States in 1812, the cruise into the Pacific of the USS Essex, and such esoteric subject as 'the noted pimp of Lisbon' and Bermuda in time of peace.
This book is an enjoyable read, an outstanding primary source, and one of the best books available on this often neglected subject.
A window on the age of sail.......2000-06-06
I bought this book because I started down the slippery slope which begins with Patrick O'Brian's *Master* *and* *Commander* and ends with a wall covered with naval prints and trips to Nelson-phile conventions.
This book is an anthology of first hand accounts of naval life in the age of sail. The stories are dramatic and gripping, though I wished the they were longer. The editors have helpfully added some diagrams and maps, though I would have prefered even more.
It is very interesting to see the overlap with the O'Brian books. As O'Brian points out in one of his forwards, at least sometimes he did not need to invent the plot, but merely re-arrange and sort out the pacing.
Book Description
Although Nelson was the most prominent naval officer of the age, he was only the most successful of a outstanding group of commanders that led the Royal Navy to its unprecedented success in the wars of 1793-1815. The contribution of his contemporaries has been neglected, however, largely because so few admirals have received proper modern study. This volume sets out to adjust the record by providing a series of in-depth biographical essays of the most important figures, each written by a well-known specialist in the field. Since every chapter was commissioned specially for this book, the coverage has been organised to dovetail perfectly, resulting in a coherent history of the art of command in the sailing navy at its apogee. At around 10,000 words, each essay is substantial and allows the author scope for both detail and argument. Each of the contributors is a recognized authority and the resulting book is largely based on original and unpublished research. Following the pattern of the well-received Precursors of Nelson, this book is a major contribution to the naval history of the great French wars. It will become required reading for every historian of the period.
Book Description
Although Nelson dominates the naval history of the late eighteenth century, in many respects his achievements marked the culmination of a developing tactical tradition in the Royal Navy. The contribution of his predecessors has been neglected, however, largely because so few admirals have received proper modern study. Precursors of Nelson adjusts the record by providing a series of in-depth biographical essays of the most important figures of the period, each written by a well-known specialist in the field. Contributors include Peter le Fevre on Torrington, John B. Hattendorf on Rook and Shovell, Timothy Bean and Ann Coats on Leake, Chris Ware on Byng, David Aldridge on Norris, Daniel Baugh on Wager, Richard Harding on Vernon, Nicolas Rodger on Anson, Ruddock Mackay on Hawke, Kenneth Breen on Rodney, Roger Knight on Howe, Michael Duffy on Hood, Roger Morris on Barham, Pat Crimmin on St. Vincent, Andrew Lambert on Cornwallis, and Brian Lavery on Keith.
Average customer rating:
- Too Personal
- Misses the mark
- Sadly disappointed
- A Good Start For a Novice Reader on Lord Admiral Nelson
- Half-Nelson
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Nelson: A Personal History
Christopher Hibbert
Manufacturer: Da Capo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Wellington: A Personal History
ASIN: 0201408007 |
Amazon.com
Accomplished British author Christopher Hibbert turns his attention to England's greatest maritime leader in this celebrated biography. Nelson joined the navy at age 12. By the time of his decisive victory over the French and Spanish at Trafalgar in 1805--a battle that would kill him--Nelson had lost his right arm and the sight in one eye from a life of naval combat. Nelson's activities on shore were often as intriguing as those at sea. Hibbert reveals a man loved by his fellow sailors but reviled by many social elites. Nelson, for example, carried on an extended affair with the wife of a powerful politician, and she even bore him a child. An absorbing book about a dynamic warrior.
Book Description
In this coloful, absorbing tale of Nelson's life on and off the high seas, Hibbert illuminates the admiral's personality, his personal and political friendships, his relationship with Sir William Hamilton, and his passionate love affair with Hamilton's wife, the beautiful Lady Emma, daughter of a blacksmith and once a London prostitute. Whether quarreling with royalty, wooing beautiful women around the world, or winning history's most famous sea battles, Hibbert's irascible Nelson is a character for all times.
Customer Reviews:
Too Personal.......2006-04-01
This book examines Nelson's personal life focusing a great deal of attention on his relationship with Lady Hamilton. It is not a flattering picture of the naval hero. I would have preferred to have read more of a military history of Nelson's accomplishments and evidently chose the wrong book. Well researched and based on personal correspondence , Hibbert's book is not without it's own merits , it just lost my interest about two thirds of the way in as it became increasingly bogged down in myriad details of this single relationship.
Misses the mark.......2002-06-28
For a biography of a military leader, I was quite surprised to find out how little military events and details are given by Mr. Hibbert. For those interested in sea battles, tactics, and getting a feel for what life was like in the British Navy at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, skip this book. Hibbert's excruciating detail about Nelson's social life, liesure travel, meals at inns, parties, Lady Hamilton's dresses accumulates to the point that it is very tempting to "abandon ship" on this book. Many, many paragraphs drone on about tedious social affairs and extensive quotes from letters are repetitive and boring, not illuminating.
Sadly disappointed.......2002-04-14
I have just spent the last 4 weeks, on & off, trying to finish this fairly thin volume; during that time I've read over 10 other books - I think that indicates the readability of this biography.
The biographer seems more interested in cramming in relatively superfluous information, with scant regard to punctuation with the result that each sentence ends up even longer than this one and I had to re-read many of them several times to make out the sense of what was being implied.
Although meticulously researched, this seems less concerned with Nelson's naval actions and more with his below-the-navel actions. Our biographer seems not to have heard of the Naval Chronicle or Admiralty Papers - the Nile action is dealt with in a page, Copenhagen slightly more, but 2 years in the West Indies occupy less than a page.
Nelson & Bronte (!?!) himself comes out of this looking more like an immature, pretentious, love-struck, egocentric hypochondriac than the Great Hero still revered nearly 2 centuries later. On the plus side, it is apparent that Nelson is loved by his men, whom he clearly cares for, (knowing many of them by name) and is diligent in supporting those less fortunate than himself, both with cash and influence.
The focus on his tawdry menage-a-trois, stately processions round Britain and portrait-posing does little to foster the heroic image - in effect we are led to believe that the Nile action was won by luck, Copenhagen by bluff, and Trafalgar by a foolhardy tactic...
I felt sadly let-down and would prefer a more readable, naval-oriented biography.
A Good Start For a Novice Reader on Lord Admiral Nelson.......2001-02-12
When I picked up this work, I knew only the basics about Nelson. In this presentation Hibbert achieves the goal of his title by providing the reader a good personal history of the man, Lord Admiral Nelson.
The format of the book, as revealed in the table of contents, indicates from the get go that the book is written as a chronology of the great admiral's exploits at sea. Nelson's career is detailed from Britain to the "Mosquito Shore" to Naples to Copenhagen.
One interesting dynamic that caught me unaware is that Admiral Nelson seemed to neglect his duties in order to pursue an affair with Lady Emma, the former prostitute and wife of a friend. Hibbert develops this neglect of duty well. However, this aspect of the book would have been improved if Hibbert could have found, or presented, more evidence as to how this neglect of duty may have influenced the morale of the sailors serving under the brilliant strategist, Lord Admiral Nelson.
I recommend this book to anyone wanting a personal understanding of the ambition and foibles that drove Nelson. I gather that it is not a comprehensive look at Nelson's life, but I also understand that the author probably did not intend it to be.
Nonetheless, this book is worth reading. A solid understanding of Nelson can be gained by resort to this book. A serious student of history and of "great men" will value this book as part of his or her library.
Half-Nelson.......2000-06-19
I am a great admirer of Christopher Hibbert but I was very disappointed in this book. When I finished it I had the impression that I still didn't know much about what kind of man Nelson was. He seemed to be almost a cartoon character or someone in an old swashbuckler type movie, rather than a real person. One reason for this is that Mr. Hibbert relied too much on quotations from Nelson's own letters. Nelson apparently always saw himself as someone destined to be very special and oftimes when he wrote or said something it seemed as though he did it with one eye (if you'll pardon the pun) on posterity. He would be melodramatic and predict that this or that battle would make his name or result in his death, etc. He would be very upset when he wasn't promoted quickly enough or didn't get prize money after a battle but when he made a comment for public consumption he would say his only wish was to serve king and country. He loved to strut around with medals and ribbons pinned to his chest and he was seemingly always available to have his portrait painted by every artist in England. Mr. Hibbert does not provide any analysis or even express his opinion. It is almost as though he thought this was a story that could tell itself. Well,..... it couldn't! Mr. Hibbert called this book "Nelson: A Personal History", but it is too much about Nelson's personal life and at the same time not personal enough. There are too many quotations from letters to Emma Hamilton expressing his love for her, but not enough information about why Nelson abandoned his wife. There is too much gossip from people who either liked Mrs. Hamilton or couldn't stand her and one is left confused rather than feeling that a balanced picture has been presented, again, because Mr. Hibbert makes no attempt to separate the wheat from the chafe. Nelson's career is given short shrift and it seems as though in a flash he has gone from being a boy at sea to admiral, with no explanation of how he got from one place to the other. We are shown enough to know that Nelson was indeed a very brave (if reckless and sometimes foolhardy) man but it is never explained to us what made Nelson a great strategist or set him above any other captain or admiral of the fleet. We are given only one glimpse of the complexity of the man, and this towards the end of the book. Nelson met the future Duke of Wellington in a room of the Colonial Office, where they were both waiting to see Lord Castlereagh. Nelson had no idea that he was talking with somebody of any reputation or importance, although Wellington recognized Nelson. According to Wellington "he (Nelson) entered at once into conversation with me, if I can call it conversation, for it was almost all on his side and all about himself and, in reality, a style so vain and so silly as to surprise and almost disgust me." Nelson then left the room for a moment, apparently to find out from someone who exactly he had been speaking with. After finding out that Wellington was "somebody" he came back into the room and his manner was totally different. Wellington continued "his charlatan style had quite vanished...and certainly for the last half or three-quarters of an hour, I don't know that I ever had a conversation that interested me more...I saw enough to be satisfied that he was really a very superior man; but certainly a more sudden or complete metamorphosis I never saw." If only during the course of this 400 page book these depths could have been explored, we might then have been presented with the "real" Nelson!
Average customer rating:
- The Life of Nelson The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain - Alfred Thayer Mahan
- A superb read.
- If you want to understand Nelson, this is the book to read
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The Life of Nelson: The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain
Alfred T. Mahan
Manufacturer: US Naval Institute Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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The Influence of Sea Power Upon History 1660-1783
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For God and Glory: Lord Nelson and His Way of War
ASIN: 1557504849 |
Book Description
Republished at the midpoint of the "Nelson Decade," which commemorates the two-hundredth anniversary of the admiral's electrifying victory and death at Trafalgar, this historically significant work is as relevant to today's readers as it was when first published more than a century ago. Despite the obvious differences between Nelson's world and ours, the qualities of leadership he demonstrated are readily transferable, and the economic and political influences on his navy are remarkably similar to those exerted on navies of the twenty-first century.
Originally written in two volumes, the biography is now offered in a facsimile edition of the revised single-volume study published in 1899. The author, Alfred Thayer Mahan, remains a highly regarded naval historian and naval theorist who saw Nelson as the on-deck demonstrator of the broad theories of sea power that he himself was articulating. As the subtitle of the book indicates, Mahan focuses on Nelson's professional life and provides a penetrating analysis of his naval career. Avoiding the pitfalls of previous biographies colored by hero worship, Mahan provides a balanced view that even won over an initially skeptical British audience. Evaluating the legendary figure from across an ocean and across nearly a century of time, he takes full advantage of information that appeared after Nelson's death and his own considerable knowledge of naval matters. One of Mahan's best books, this biography is credited with elevating the understanding of the geopolitical role of sea power and accelerating the influence of sea power on American history.
Customer Reviews:
The Life of Nelson The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain - Alfred Thayer Mahan.......2007-07-16
This is one of the classics on Nelson works. It has not been available for many years. It was good to have such easy access to this facsimile reprint to be able to add it to my library on Nelson.
A superb read........2005-02-08
This book is hard to equal, and maybe impossible to beat, in terms of Nelson biographies. It's one century old but as fresh and relevant and accurate as if it had been written by a modern scholar with the vast array of Nelson papers to aid him or her. Mahan is Nelson's champion; no-one can doubt that. But he's not dishonest when presenting Nelson's strengths and weaknesses. Our admiral had both; which makes him understandable in a very human way. This is a fine book.
If you want to understand Nelson, this is the book to read.......2004-09-28
What, no reviews! Every once in a while you come across a book on a subject you love, and you realize that you have come across the definitive book in the area, and a literary gem, to boot, as well as a book for the ages. This is one of those books. And if you think I say this about many books, alas there are too few of them. I think of Boswell's Johnson, or Sobel's Longitude, or Grant's Memoirs.
I'd been reading and reading about Nelson and naval warfare in the age of sail. I read Mahan's Seapower. Then this book. In it all the details of Nelson's life that had been boring in other books took on meaning as they were weighed and sifted and given significance by the great judicial mind of Mahan, who sits as it were on the high bench and delivers his judgements on Nelson. And these judgements seem carved in oak or stone, so solid do they appear. So that as I read or peruse other tomes on Nelson, of which there are of course so many, Mahan seems already to have defused the controversy by having got there first, thought more intelligently, sifted more evidence, and delivered saner judgements.
It is truly one of the great books, beautifully written. If you want to understand Nelson, read this book. There is no other. And if you don't want to understand Nelson, read it as you might read Grant's Memoirs, because Edmund Wilson and Gertrude Stein thought it one of the great exemplars in our literature of the plain style. That is not to say that there are not a myriad books on Nelson and related topics that the avid enthusiast would want to read. Read them all! Just don't miss this one, too.
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