(Horatio Nelson (Command)) [By: Angus Konstam] [Jul, 2011]

Command #16

by Peter Dennis

The most famous admiral in history, Horatio Nelson's string of naval victories helped secure Britain's place as the world's dominant maritime power, a position she held for more than a century after Nelson's death. A young officer during the American Revolution, Nelson rose to prominence during Britain's war with Revolutionary France, becoming a hero at the battle of Cape St. Vincent. He went on to win massive victories at the Nile and Copenhagen, before leading the British to their historic victory at Trafalgar in 1805. But, in that moment of his greatest glory, Nelson was struck down by a French sharpshooter. Today Nelson is revered as an almost mythical figure - a naval genius and a national hero. He was also a deeply flawed individual whose vanity, ego and private life all threatened to overshadow his immense abilities. This book reveals the real Nelson.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military History, Biography

Paperback

First published June 28, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Peter Dennis was born in 1950. Inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look and Learn he studied illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects. He is a keen wargamer and modelmaker. He is based in Nottinghamshire, UK.

Reviews

[Koit · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Osprey Command books are an interesting go-between of an actual biography and a brief article exploring a person. I find that Nelson comes through well here, but the author is also disinclined to challenge the Vice-Admiral's preeminence in the British pantheon of heroes--a feeling which perhaps stems from the author's naval history (which is mentioned in the book, hence full disclosure).

From the less good side: Nowhere is it mentioned how much the people preceding Nelson contributed to the building of the fleet which was used so effectively despite the author's acknowledgement that the great admiral himself was not particularly good with administrative matters.

The main purpose of these books is to give a brief and reasonably objective overview of the subject and this is done; the recommendations for further reading are therefore all the more useful. This book probably has very little to offer to people who have already read some of the newer biographies (such as Lambert) or the old classics (Mahan), but otherwise can be considered a good introduction.

[Wai Zin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very brief (too brief) narrative of Nelson's military achievements.
If you want more information other than that this book is not for you.
If you know nothing about Nelson and want a brief glimpse this may be a good start.
Anyway as usual for Angus Konstam and Osprey this is a good quality book.

3.5 stars

[Henry Kline · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice summary of his life

[Declan Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Osprey books do concentrate on the military impact and actions in their 'Command' series. This being the second one I have read, and provides information on Nelson not just limited to what most people know - his injuries, Trafalgar, and his death.

Another good and well written historical perspective with clear narative, and an easy to understand writing style.

The only issue I had was with the maps in the Kindle version being difficult to view as shown in 1/6ths of 1/2ths...!