Nelson the Commander

By Geoffrey Bennett

Book Overview

Nearly two centuries after his death, does Nelson deserve his reputation as one of the world's great commanders?

Nelson's triumphs have so caught the public imagination that his failures are barely remembered. His only victorious battles at sea was Trafalgar (at Copenhagen and the Nile his destroyed ships at anchor), while his infatuation with Emma Hamilton, his role in the judicial murder of the Neapolitan Commodore, Carraciolo, and his flagrant disobedience of orders brought him disgrace and dishonor. Yet this was a man who, in an age when the Royal Navy thrived on rum, sodomy and the lash, turned his captains into a 'Band of Brothers' and whose death brought tears to the eyes of the toughest sailors.

Did England's naval hero have the star quality which marks the world's truly great captains? In answering this question, Geoffrey Bennett, a distinguished historian who himself served in the Royal Navy for thirty-five years, provides a full and meticulously researched account of Nelson's life and career which will enthrall students of history and the general reader alike.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 184415307X
• ISBN13: 9781844153077
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Length: 358 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.1" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

An excellent biography.

A simple title for a book, perhaps. On closer scrutiny, however, this title becomes all the more appropriate for a book which seeks to go beyond that which we thought we knew about this great hero and his many great victories. Geoffrey Bennett was a distinguished naval historian who also served for 35 years in the Royal Navy. As such, he brings an understanding of naval history and naval issues to this book in a way which is rarely achieved and, together, these attributes combine to create the most interesting read. In telling the reader about the "real" Nelson - faults and all, the author does not seek to remove this great hero of Trafalgar from his worthy pedestal. Instead, in this well written biography, he sets out to ensure that Nelson remains firmly where he belongs - as the man he was, rather than as the mythical legend in which light he is so often portrayed. In short, we have read about the legend, now we learn about the human being that was that legend. Although there are a few minor typographical errors on photograph captions, the selection of images is exactly right and adds much to the overall interest in the work. NM

scholarly work

This is one of the best biographies about Nelson ever written. The author's main goal of this book was to tell the story of Nelson the man rather than Nelson the legend. In this he succeeds admirably