Many people have asked me why I decided to write a biography of Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher (Kit) Cradock.
There were two principle reasons. Firstly because I had been fascinated by Cradock and the decisions he took at Coronel for some time. Historians had not seemed to want to understand why he acted as he did and were content to follow Churchill’s line and apportion blame, or at least accusations of rashness, to Cradock. The facts did not seem to support such a stance.
Secondly, I wanted to right a wrong. The more I researched, the more I came to believe that Cradock’s reputation had been traduced by Churchill and the Admiralty. I wanted to set the record straight and show him in his true light as a brave man who acted following his orders and what he perceived as his duty. The fact that this year is the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Coronel makes the timing of the book significant too.