Nelson: The Sword of Albion

Nelson #2

by John Sugden

The most authoritative and intimate portrait written of Horatio Nelson

In this epic biography of history’s most celebrated naval commander, acclaimed historian John Sugden separates fact from myth to offer a powerful portrait of the hero of Trafalgar.

As was true of the Sugden’s riveting account of Horatio Nelson’s early years (Nelson: A Dream of Glory, 2005), this comprehensive life of Lord Nelson is built from largely overlooked primary documents, letters, and diaries that reach across two centuries to invite us to share Nelson’s multifaceted life.

The Sword of Albion offers the sweep and intimacy of first-rate historical fiction—revealing the interior lives, for example, of Lord Nelson’s wife, Fanny and family and the caring and more passionate Emma, Lady Hamilton, who nursed the war-weary hero back to health in Naples and London after his brilliant victory over the Spanish fleet at Cape St. Vincent in 1797 and the stunning defeat at Tenerife that cost Nelson his right arm.

Today’s reader comes to understand that every obstacle in Nelson’s path was attacked head-on with an Achilles-like ferocity and resolve. Yet his life was no steady upward trajectory; it was instead plagued by injuries and debt for the commoner admiral in a society dominated by lineage and property. As Sugden points out, “His life was a mission with the essence of a tour de force, hurrying toward a bloody climax that would change the fate of empires.”

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, British Literature, Naval History, World History

945 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 27, 2012

About the author

An independent scholar and a former associate editor of Oxford University Press's American National Biography project, John Sugden holds degrees from the Universities of Leeds, Lancaster and Sheffield.

Reviews

[Robert French · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the last thirty years I have been a fan of the fiction about the Age of Fighting Sail. Over the years I have read a substantial number of the novels of C.S. Forester, Dudley Pope and Patrick O’Brian. At one time, when I lived in northern Canada, I even spent my spare time building a few ship models. Years ago I read popular history about British sea power and the age of sail and a few biographies about Admiral Horatio Nelson.

I read the first volume of Sugden’s biography, Nelson: A Dream of Glory (2005) about a six weeks ago and decided I would wait a few months before tackling the second volume. I am glad I stumbled on these books at the same time so I could read them at approximately the same time. I completed Nelson: The Sword of Albion (2012) the day after Christmas. I usually do not take three weeks to read any book, but it was a bad choice to try to read it around Christmas. We have a crazy extended family and the interruptions were constant.

Neither of the books were a difficult read, they are just very comprehensive and detailed. At times I was overwhelmed by the amount of detail and often found myself re-reading various paragraphs and sections just to grasp more clearly the events. The background research is impeccable. Previous reading has insured that I am fairly familiar with life in the British navy and the various important battles and events. Only after reading the two volumes of Nelson did I realize how much I did not know including the significance of the Navigation Acts, the massive detail about Nelson’s involvement and relationship with Emma Hamilton, the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, and the time he spent in Naples and finally his return to the Mediterranean and eventually the battle of Trafalgar.

From my perspective, five stars may be too few. I almost wish there was a way to exemplify a particularly unique and special biography. I almost wish the books had been published a long time ago as they would have provided the basis for much of my earlier reading of nautical fiction. I actually picked up one of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin novels a few days ago and although the events occurred much after Nelson’s death in 1805, the knowledge I gained from John Sugden’s Nelson biography has already enhanced my reading of Treason’s Harbour.

[Elsie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Finished.
Not just this one which had been the longest and most detailed but all of the books about Horatio Nelson since I bought Broadsides at a bookshop at the Vancouver airport in 2001.
Nelson is someone from history who will never be repeated. That he was so gifted, so flawed, so dear and loved, and that he created 3 of the most astonishing victories at sea is almost too much to accept coming from one slight individual.
I've read books about his management style I've embraced and seen work wonders. He was so good with people, inspiring, growing their abilities and giving them opportunities.
This book is a mass of details. It's hard to read because there is a steady stream of new names, places, events, ships, and details from the volume of records, logs, letters generated by an organization that ran on written correspondence. I find I move slowly through dense information so this took me a long time to get through.
The age of sail is also the height of the hand made world, before steam power, when the world was travelled using wood, rope and canvas and battles between massive ships of the line that hurled tons of metal at their adversaries by gunpowder shots in "close sweaty greasy wrestling matches" of incredible violence.
I don't know if I'll read anything about this period and about Nelson again. This book with the prior one about young Nelson seem to have plumbed the depth of all records preserved.
I think I know more about this as a subject second only to my profession. And I know more about Nelson than anyone else except my children.
I'm spent. This feels like the end of period of my life. Maybe I'll come back to this. I can't see myself again becoming so obsessed with a subject the way I did with Nelson again. But maybe I will.

[Steve Donoghue]

John Sugden follows up his enormous first volume "Nelson: A Dream of Glory" with this second enormous volume concentrating on the man's final decade, nearly a thousand pages of dense, completely spellbinding prose backed up by an absolutely terrifying amount of research. The book won't work, obviously, as a stand-alone life of Nelson - but if you're read up on the man and his times, you can FEAST on this great book!

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rounded and in-depth volume.

The narrative is pretty detailed but very readable. Subjects like strategy tactics, politics, and the life of the sailor are all told well and really gives you a sense of the era. He does provide background on the politics of Britain’s wars, but it never bogs down the narrative. He also does a good job explaining the slow pace of communication in those days.

The portrait of Nelson’s own unusual personal life is pretty good. His ambition, vanity, and opportunism really shines through, as does his skill as a tactician, of course. Sugden notes how often Nelson wriggled out of the orders of his superiors, or outright disregarded them. The description of the baffling politics of Naples is also well presented, as is his dreadful treatment of his wife Fanny, behavior he engaged in even as his notorious affair with Emma Hamilton was openly discussed in the press. He also describes how ably Nelson was able to manipulate the journalists who wrote about him. The description of Nelson’s death is particularly moving.

The level of detail can sometimes feel overwhelming, and the writing is rather dry. Sometimes it seems like Sugden recalls the details of every single time Nelson makes a shore visit. He even comments on the artistic portrayals of Nelson at times.

A clear, engaging and well-researched biography.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much more engaging read than the first volume! It lags a bit when Nelson gets caught up in Italian politics, but the major naval battles were thrilling (though brutal), and when our hero's end came, I felt some pangs. Of course, I know how Nelson dies - everyone knows how Nelson dies - take off your damn shiny coat, you dummy!!! - but when the moment arrived, I wasn't really ready to let him go. In that, perhaps I understood in some small fraction the sense of loss and mourning that overwhelmed every person in Britain and beyond, apparently, when the same news hit.

Nelson reached heights of appalling celebrity during his lifetime, and his success at Trafalgar undoubtedly ensured the naval superiority that allowed the British empire to flourish for over a century. But even though he seems a larger-than-life figure in popular imagination, and his legends are many, Sugden does a good job of reminding us that he was also a very human person with a mix of strengths and flaws like all the rest of us. At bottom, he was really a guy who believed fundamentally in god, country, and king, and who had an unstinting drive to be the best he could be at his chosen profession. It's hard to deny that he achieved his goal. For that, I tip my hat to you, Horatio Nelson.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four stars is a bit much for a book that, in fairness, I probably skimmed about a third of. John Sugden picks up where he left off with A Dream of Glory, only now the Napoleonic Wars are in full swing, and Horatio Nelson has full opportunity to go from sometime action hero to all-out naval celebrity. Like its predecessor, Sword of Albion is so dense that rather than bother to rethink the entirety, I think I'll just annotate my progress notes. As can be seen from my comment only 6% of the way through, the book begins with a bang: "Can Admiral Nelson find and destroy Napoleon's secret fleet despite missing vital cruisers? Hint: they're not going to Naples. I keep telling him they're heading to Egypt, but I don't think he can hear me through the page."

Another 40+ pages later, Nelson does in fact catch up with the French (albeit now parked off Alexandria). My thought reading about that: "Judging solely by the Battle of Aboukir Bay, late 18th century naval warfare was a lot like a drive-by shooting, only instead of driving by, they just swung up, parked, and opened fire. No finesse whatsoever. Apparently, the British could shoot faster and more accurately than anyone else, but with all the back-and-forth spray of cannonfire, it's remarkable that anyone came out of any ship alive."

Actually, this is a disturbing pattern that holds for the remainder of Nelson's successes. At Copenhagen, he fights to a near draw, suffering nearly as many losses as the Danish, including in damage to his ships. It is arguably his negotiated truce that allows his fleet the space (and breath) to withdraw, but the act comes close to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Likewise, the famed Battle of Trafalgar. Even Sugden in his wrap-up at pages 847-848 feels compelled to note that “Nelson’s attack was of its time... exquisitely tailored to its historical circumstances. To have applied such tactics in another time or situation could have courted disaster. He was not, therefore, a simple template.”

I’m a bit skeptical as to whether Nelson’s tactics were attributable more to ‘exquisite’ forethought or to a belligerent, devil-may-care temperament. He didn’t have to lead the charge, he chose to. He didn’t have to go into battle wearing his vanity epaulets (copies of earlier laurels won he had sown on to his tailored uniforms) and stand like a giant target out on the quarterdeck, he chose to do so. He didn’t have to dock with insufficient strength against stationary, land-based targets rocking home-field advantage (Corsica, Tenerife, Copenhagen, Boulogne, etc.), and yet he picked precisely those battles. Well, you win some, you lose some, and while the outcomes of his style of engagement earned him glory and the contemporary admiration of your average British citizen, it cost him an arm, an eye, and ultimately his life (along with the lives of many others).

On the other hand, the Enlightenment era was something of a ridiculous time for military entanglement. Weaponry was so crude, by modern standards, that the name of the game for everyone not led by Napoleon (a terrific military opportunist, albeit one with a mighty short attention span) was apparently simply to concentrate fire on your opponent until they could not or would not retaliate. Those who could stand (and stand, and stand, and stand) and deliver (and deliver, and deliver, and deliver) were bound to dominate those who ran away to fight another day.

To my comments about Aboukir Bay, I should add two other oddities of Enlightenment-era naval warfare of which I wasn't previously aware: its slow-motion character and sheer firepower by contrast to what troops and cavalry could accomplish on land. As to the speed of it all, well, the almighty British Navy, like all others, consisted entirely of sailboats of varying sizes. If you've ever had the pleasure of riding a Flying Scot, Catalina, or even a humble Sunfish that no one has been thoughtful enough to provision with an outboard motor, you know you're at the complete mercy of the wind. You can't run directly at it (although you can zigzag plenty), and you can only go as fast as the prevailing breezes will take you. Sure, it feels fast, especially when you're tacking and you can feel your hair blown about, but seriously? Check out the shoreline or other boats. You really ain't movin' much.

In the epic Battle of Trafalgar, the fastest ships in the attacking British van were zipping along at a whopping... three knots. Their slower compatriots were clocking in at two. In other words, they were walking at their foe in a most determined fashion, and from a starting position about 7-10 miles away. Now, this afflicts everyone, so it's not as though the quarry is going any faster, but the big takeaway from this is that outside of motion through a dense fog, tactical surprise is well-nigh impossible. The best you can hope for is to adopt an ambiguous approach position that allows you (at least initially) to mass overwhelming force against your opponent, notwithstanding their ability to begin firing on you once you get within three-quarters to a half-mile range of their cannons.

Oh, right. The cannons. This brings me to my second epiphany, which has to do with the overwhelming masses of onboard ordnance. As Sugden explains at page 794,

In terms of the early nineteenth century the strength of both fleets was awesome. In one discharge Nelson's fleet could hurl some 23.2 tons of lethal metal with terrific force. A single broadside from the Victory alone, amounting to some 1148 lbs of shot, was equivalent to 67 per cent of Wellington's entire firepower at Waterloo. If the Victory double-shotted her guns, as she commonly did at close quarters, this one ship could massively outgun the duke's army. Indeed, the total firepower of both armies at Waterloo amounted to a mere 7.3 per cent of the firepower at Trafalgar.

I'm no military strategist, but I imagine ships of the line on the ocean as the fever dream of a crazed general who upon seeing the ocean, finally achieved his fantasy of maxxing out at an all-you-can-artillery buffet of unlimited horsepower with no confounding trees, rocks, buildings, or ditches to get in the way. Given that it would only take a single sniper's shot to take the Admiral's life, all this gunpowder and lead is literally so much 1805 overkill. If a lone 64-90 cannon ship of the line posed as significant a threat to an offshore town as a hillside of heavy artillery, it's no wonder cities walled up around high ground. Perhaps the best way to picture the flat-out insanity of this sort of warfare is to put yourself among the cannons of Little Round Top at Gettysburg, rows of cannons three to five feet apart No finesse, no speed or maneuverability needed, just raw shock and awe to get you through.

Speaking of shock and awe, as of page 232 my reaction was: "The war for the kingdom of Naples was unusually brutal... some passing through massacre and mutilation to cannibalism." At last! But passages of longstanding blockades are boring. (I'm looking at you, Malta.)"

Admittedly, all these are ancillary observations to the life of Horatio Nelson, as a mere book’s-worth later, I’m remarking: "More reckless overreaching in 1801 against the Boulogne coastline (stay at sea, naval hero), but after 2 years of domestic renovation it's at last back to the Mediterranean!" By page 597, the reader has been treated to extensive coverage of Nelson’s philandering, his diplomacy, and the gradual realization of his arcadian ambitions for Merton Place (his primary residence when not onboard ship).

These actually go hand in hand, since Nelson’s first major diplomatic opportunity arose from his long-term stationing off Sicily/The Kingdom of Naples at which time he bedded down with Lord and Lady Hamilton, the latter probably literally, and with whom he ultimately shared said home. (This, after abandoning the affections of the woman he married; y’know, just kicking out the ol’ baggage, wot, wot?) All this pales in comparison to the life at sea, but what is owed the journalistic fervor of a tabloid instead receives the scrupulous cataloging of an archivist’s wit. It’s tedious, protracted, dull, and much of what I chose ultimately to skim over. Ach! In fairness, Sugden already demurred in the preface to his first volume that those interested in naval tactics or 18th century warfare would be better served by other books.

Sugden saves most of his witty asides for the high seas. Thus, at p. 589, we can read that "[Chaplain and secretary Alexander John] Scott... suffered from the after-effects of having once been struck by lightning, and became insensible once or twice a month, but he knew Danish, French, Italian, and Turkish and was devoted to Nelson." Weighing the pros and cons, y'see.

However, Sugden’s penchant for authoritative digression sometimes detracts from the inherent drama of his tableaux. By page 828, Nelson lies dying on a surgeon’s table, his pulse fading, his “vital organs” failing, the fates of his fleet and his legacy equally feared to be yet undetermined. The author will eventually get readers to what happens next, but first, some forensics. “Historians have tried to find out what it was that actually killed Nelson,” Sugden muses, before going on to tick off the various internal wounds revealed in an autopsy: damage to the spinal column, perforation of the left lung, rupture of a pulmonary artery offset by low blood pressure, despite vascular hypotension and built-up air pressure in the pneumothorax. Hmmm… “Nelson would have also lost some blood from the intercostals, which have a higher pressure than the pulmonary vessels, and together the injuries created hypovolaemia, which combined with neurogenic shock caused by the penetration of the spinal cord.” What were we discussing? Oh, right: the ebbing of Lord Nelson’s mortal presence. “‘Fan, fan,’ he would gasp, and ‘drink, drink.’ Lemonade, water, and some wine were given for the remaining moments of his life. Beatty [the surgeon] may also have administered laudanum, but the pain and slow respiration made it hard for the wounded admiral to speak in sentences.” “Laudanum, laudanum,” perhaps?

So, okay, yeah, I’ll downgrade my review of this book to three stars (as though the author will care), but a doff of my cap nonetheless to Sugden for his authoritative Nelson fix. I'll pick up my cheap Napoleonic thrills watching the BBC's Horatio Hornblower series, secure in the knowledge that I know where the real thing can ever be found. It's all there, somewhere, in Sugden’s exhaustive work.

[Alex Helling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nelson is probably the most famous naval admiral in history. France led by Napoleon first as General, then Dictator, and finally Emperor swept all before it on land. But it was a different matter on the seas and ocean where Britain’s Royal Navy held fast preventing any possibility of a final Napoleonic victory and Nelson was instrumental in this. John Sugden in The Sword of Albion follows the last few years of Nelson’s life once he has been promoted to being an Admiral. As such it covers his greatest victories; the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar. And also some of his most controversial moments such as his relationship with Emma.

This is a great tome of a book - 850 pages. So it will take a long time to read. But that does not mean it is a difficult or boring book to read. Rather I found it remarkably accessible with a style that manages to use all that detail to put the reader right into the scene and the action; whether it on the deck of HMS Victory as she sails into the Battle of Trafalgar, the bay of Naples as Nelson is seduced by Emma, or in the pleasure of his own home of Merton. Despite its size it has to be remembered this is just half of the story which was started in Nelson: A Dream of Glory. As such The Sword of Albion is picking up where the first part leaves off - and it does very much jump straight in, so best to either have read the first part or else have some prior knowledge about Nelson as you wont be getting the back story filled in as we go!

The book is mostly biography. But by the nature of the focus just on events post Battle of St Vincent it is also a book about the three battles Nelson won. Moreover the focus is not narrowly on Nelson and the Royal Navy. Commanding first the British presence in the Mediterranean then the Baltic and then the Med again Nelson has to get a broad view. And so Sugden provides the bigger picture too with detailed analysis of the situation of the actors that have an influence on Nelson’s command; whether it is the dilemmas of the two Sicilies threatened by land, the hold Russia has over Denmark, or the incapacity of Sardinia.

Rather to my surprise I found myself enjoying the personal elements as much as the Naval side. Nelson’s vain and popinjay, aggrieved and resentful side, and captivation by Emma Hamilton are his worst aspects, but does make for a good story. Emma herself is a larger than life character and the interaction between two triangles Nelson, Emma, and her husband William on the one hand and Nelson, his wife Fanny, and father William on the other makes for a difficult personal balancing act, which Nelson singularly fails in, driving the narrative of these sections along. There is a good balance between the personal and the naval aspects and Sudgen shows how closely the one often affected the other.

Mostly Sudgen is balanced and clear-sighted. But occasionally he can get carried away by his enthusiasm for his subject making him a bit inconsistent. Or perhaps, determined to have his cake and eat it too; praising Nelson whichever way he goes. In the Copenhagen campaign Parker is castigated for failing to act quickly to block the escape of the Russian fleet from Revel as Nelson wanted as this would, had Russian Emperor Paul lived, been a “failure… unfortunate, if not disastrous.”(p.469) But this ignores the other counterfactual; what if Nelson got his way, rushed off and destroyed the Russian fleet and Paul dies… it could have alienated Alexander and had immense strategic repercussions for a decade of war to come. Would there have been any chance of the almost immediate peace Nelson is praised for on p478?

Sometimes conclusions are not supported by what he has previously written. For example in concluding the Nile we are told “Nelson’s campaign had been as strategically and tactically flawless as resources and intelligence allowed” (p.106). And yet much of the tactics that won the battle don't seem to have been Nelson’s; it was not he who led part of the fleet between the French fleet and the shore and Sugden gives no indication this was ordered. And earlier in the campaign Sugden mentions two occasions where Bonaparte’s fleet was missed, at least one of which was actively as a result of Nelson keeping his fleet closely together and not choosing to pursue frigates (p.74). While it is difficult to call these mistakes as there were good reasons for the decisions it is equally difficult to avoid seeing them as flaws.

But frankly these are minor niggles in an immense work of detailed scholarship. It is the detail Sugden provides that allows the reader to see the potential inconsistencies and make up their own minds whether they agree.

The length of Nelson the Sword of Albion means this won't be a book for everyone. It is very detailed, and there are plenty of far shorter biographies of Nelson if you just want something with the essentials. But for getting right into the details, what might have been in Nelson’s mind, and how everything happened this book is peerless.

[Brian Miracle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second volume of John Sugden’s two volume biography of Horatio Nelson, Britain’s greatest admiral and arguably the greatest admiral of all time. Sugden’s first volume, Nelson: A Dream of Glory, 1758-1797, finds Nelson returning home after losing his right arm in the British defeat at Tenerife, and lamenting “I am useless to my country.” Little did Nelson know that he only had eight more years to live and that he would cement his reputation with decisive victories at the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar, dying at the height of his glory.

The book covers Nelson’s recovery from his amputation, followed by extended service in the Mediterranean, where his Nile victory occurred. While there, he supported the Naples monarchy against Napoleon and he met Emma Hamilton, his future mistress. Nelson’s relationship with Hamilton estranged him from his wife and was a black mark on his personal reputation.

Following service in the Mediterranean, Nelson won a decisive victory over the Danes at Copenhagen, followed by defending the English Channel against Napoleon’s prospective invasion fleet. After being given permission to return to England for recuperation, Nelson began to renovate his “dream” home, Merton Place, with dreams of a future retirement with Emma. However, the sea and his country called, resulting in the crowning victory of his career at Trafalgar, a victory that resulted in his death from a sharpshooter’s musket ball.

As with the first book, the author critically examines Nelson’s strengths and weaknesses, with most weaknesses occurring in his personal life. Indeed, in somebody with less professional talent, Nelson’s personal failings may have severely negatively impacted his career. However, Nelson’s leadership, courage, and innovation made his reputation as a great fighting admiral.

I highly recommend John Sugden’s two part biography for a detailed and fair story of the life of Nelson.

[Rosemary Bridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

part 2 of Sugden's mammoth biography, and this part dragged for me, particularly in the years when he was just moving around the Mediterranean between Sicily, Naples, North Italy and Malta, and achieving very little. However, the descriptions of the battles of the Nile, Copenhagen, and of course Trafalgar are all gripping, and Nelson clearly comes across as daring, imaginative, bold to the point of unconventional, and of course leading from the front.

[James Levy · Rating 3 out of 5]

What the hell happened? My guess is, he rushed. The book is a massive regurgitation of Sugden's notes, a blur of "this then this then this." The careful crafting of persons, places, and events you get in the first book is almost absent here. It's huge without being thoughtful, and "complete" without being revealing. Sugden did such a great job with Volume 1 that he must have come under huge pressure to produce a second volume. He put in the work, for sure, but the magic is gone.

[Markt5660 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 2nd of the 2-volume biography or Admiral Nelson. This book was extremely well researched and very thorough. At 860 pages, it sometimes seems too detailed. But, it does give an excellent description of what made Nelson great; both the good and the bad.

[Hugh Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too long.

[Niffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

I haven't finished this book, but I'm going to go ahead and review it because a.) it's a 900+ page book and it's going to take awhile to finish it and b.) it's not like this is a novel with a surprise ending--I don't see my opinion of the book changing because of a sudden weird plot twist.

At 900+ pages, this is not a book for the faint of heart. And it's not just 900+ pages--it's 900+ pages of small text and no pictures (well, except for a handful of maps at the beginning). And this isn't a book about Nelson's entire life. This book starts in 1797, after Nelson has already become a war hero and has suffered a stunning defeat and lost an arm, and covers only the last 8 years of Nelson's life. So it's detailed and in depth.

Despite all that, it's also incredibly well written and is a surprisingly easy read. I feel like "reads like a novel" is a phrase that is overused, but that truly describes this book. Despite the fact that the author is giving us an incredibly detailed account of a very small portion of Nelson's life, this is not a dry historical recitation of dates and facts. It's very personal--much of the research the author did obviously came from personal correspondence and journals. Nelson and the people in his world become people we care about and even if rooting for the good guys can't change the course of history, you still want to do it.

The author also gives a fairly balanced account of things. While Nelson might be the central focus of the story, we still get a good sense of his relationship with his wife and her feelings for him and there is a sense of tragedy in his betrayal of her. At the same time there's also a sense of how Nelson is influenced by the era and the situations he faces and how he might find himself embarking in affairs.

I'm not sure that the book is truly 5 stars, but 4 stars seems like an insult to the author. So a solid 4.5 stars for a well research and definitive account of Horatio Nelson.

ETA: Finally finished the book. Excellent read.

[James Titterton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volume 2 of Sugden's biography opens where 'A Dream of Glory' left off, with Nelson recovering from the loss of his arm after the failed attack on Tenerife in 1797. From there, the book follows Nelson through the last eight years of his life, to the Nile, Sicily, Copenhagen, the Mediterranean again and finally Trafalgar.

Sugden's scholarship is unquestionable. He mines the wealth of primary sources, particularly Nelson's correspondence, for all they're worth. He captures every facet of Nelson's life and character, his strengths and weaknesses, the triumphs of his career and the tragedies of his private life. As in his previous volume, Sugden gives due weight to his subject's context, grounding the personal story in the wider military, political and social history.

It is a very long book and would have benefited from more rigorous editing. Sugden occasionally allows the details to overwhelm the flow of the book - chapters on the refurbishment of Nelson's country house and supplying the Mediterranean fleet are something of a chore for those of us more interested in ships and battles. Sugden also occasionally allows his style to drift into portentous melodrama in the later chapters, as Trafalgar approaches.

But these are minor faults. This is an excellent history and, along with 'A Dream of Glory', deserves to be the definitive biography of Nelson for at least a generation.

[Edward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nelson, the Sword of Albion by John Sugden, is the second volume in an exhaustive biography of the great admiral. It opens with Nelson's return to England after the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where he lost his right arm, and was greeted by a cheering crowd, a harbinger of his later adulation by the English people. It continues with an exploratory view of Nelson in all his facets, his exceptional leadership at every level, his Band of Brothers, his exceptional care of not only his officers but his sailors as well,and his personal life, including his relationships with his navy superiors,his family, and the storied Lady Hamilton. With respect to the latter, Sugden captures perfectly the mutual infatuation of Nelson and his mistress and its consequences. Sugden also offers not only a panoramic view of Nelson’s three most famous battles, the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar, but the interplay of the ships and captains that made them possible. The book is a comprehensive study of Nelson, not for the faint of heart. The level of detail is completely satisfying to the Nelson admirer, but like a French impressionist painting, the casual observer must step back to see the picture and not the brush strokes.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do not be put off by the length of this book, if you want my honest opinion Sugden's account has to be one of the best accounts of the Norfolk Hero out there.

Starting from his slow and painful recovery after he had to go through the process of amputation this book goes into depth of the battles, hardships and of course scandals that became prevalent in Nelson's life and career. Also containing accounts from the men that served their almost unstoppable admiral, this book can be very difficult to put down.

While Nelson has been immortalised, Sugden reminds us that he was, like Wellington, an imperfect hero. His affair with Lady Hamilton and subsequent neglect of his wife shows that while we can admire him, we also have to study his life from a critical lens. At the same time however we can praise his leadership in battle and how he turned the British navy into a terrifying force of destruction that was for the most part, impermeable. If he had a clear plan for victory, as seen as Copenhagen, he would carry it out no matter what.

Sugden's account displays that Nelson just like us, was another human being with distinctive flaws but at the same time it goes to show how, with enough wisdom, we can achieve the seemingly impossible as he did.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sword of Albion is the long awaited 2nd volume of Sugden's Nelson biography. In this 2-part biography, already hailed by many as the new 'standard', Sugden demonstrates the rare ability write an eminently scholarly book that is still a crackling good read. If you want to get to know Nelson, not just the battles (though those are treated exceptionally well) and the legend, and are willing to see him up close and personal (and he is hard to face at times) then you have to read Sugden's Nelson.
Dream of Glory covers the rise of Nelson to a rear admiral and national hero. The Sword of Albion details his final eight years as he turns into a major international player, THE great man in England and through Trafalgar turns into a national icon.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The much-anticipated second volume of Sugden's magisterial biography of history's greatest naval hero is simply not to be missed. Carefully examining the life and character of Horatio Nelson from all angles, explaining the strategic and tactical environment in which he worked and helpfully extrapolating upon the values of the society in which he lived, this work will certainly be the gold standard for Nelson biographers for many years to come. Nelson was no cardboard hero, and I enjoyed explaining to my wife his happiness and tribulations caused by his marriage and extra-marriage (whether she enjoyed listening is another story). In spite of it's length, the book reads like a novel. Now go out and read it! England expects every man to do his duty!

[Steve Lemson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and objective, but many of the details and particulars could have best been left to footnotes and appendices. Do we really need a day-by-day recounting of Nelson's visit to Wales? Or a discussion of the precise medical cause of his death? That said, this is a seminal work on Nelson's life and career, well-worth a read.

[Christopher B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Having read Nelson, A Dream Of Glory some years ago I've been waiting for this book for quite some time. It was worth the wait. Excellent research as ever, a balanced view of Nelson and well referenced for further reading. Brilliant book!

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

detailed history into the latter part of nelson's life from battle of the nile to his death

[Mark Krier · Rating 4 out of 5]

brilliant and compelling, but so full of the detail that a comprehensive life entails that some episodes dragged a bit.

[Graham Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book expertly written. Deep , compelling , exciting and very detailed. Highly recommended.

[Sheila Read]

my sister is reading this book when she gets done with it she will give me an honest review.