Nelson the Commander

by Geoffrey Bennett

Book by Bennett, Geoffrey Martin

Genres: History, Biography, Naval History, Nonfiction, 19th Century, War, Nautical

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Captain Geoffrey Martin Bennett DSC, FRHS (1908–1983) was a British Royal Navy officer and author. He also wrote fiction as "Sea-lion".

Reviews

[Rindis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bennett's main goal is to examine Nelson as a naval commander, and see if and why he deserves his plaudits as the greatest naval commander of all time. Despite the focus, it turns into a full-fledged biography of Nelson, albeit with an unusual focus.

This is a 1972 book, and Bennett served in the Royal Navy during WWII, which adds certain biases, and some interesting background on how Nelson was viewed in the navy at the time. Most of his research seems to go back to primary sources, but he also quotes other biographers, most notably A.T. Mahan's The Life of Nelson. I'm also happy to say that my Kindle edition from Endeavour Press was in very good shape, and I didn't spot any errors that would trace back to unedited OCR text.

Overall, I think it safe to say that Nelson is one of Bennett's heroes, but that does not make him safe from censure. He is quite critical of a few actions (most notably Tenerife), and while he admits he glossing over elements of his affair with Mrs. Hamilton, he doesn't shy away from saying he needs to talk about in a military history book because of the effect it had on Nelson's judgement.

In the main, Bennett defines a standard to hold commanders up to at the beginning, and regularly goes back to this to define how Nelson's actions live up to (or occasionally don't) these standards, and how this makes him a great commander. Despite this overarching thesis, I do find this is more a biography than an analysis, but a good one, with a very well-done digression on how combat worked on board age-of-sail ships, making a handy starting reference on that in general as well.

[brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bennett was a British Naval officer prior to his endeavors as an author. Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson is, to this day, the most recognized famous naval commander in recorded history. In Nelson the Commander, Mr Bennett engages the man solely in relation to his position as a commander. Mr. Bennett asks himself and his reader if Nelson's military accomplishments warrant his lasting historical recognition. Bennett established a series of standards by which to rate a commander's performance (including 'Star Quality') and applied Nelson's exploits to the rubric. The text concludes that all laurels are warranted.

A fairly enjoyable read. I appreciated the authors levity with regard to Nelson's dallying affair at the Neapolitan court with regards to Lady Emma Hamilton. (Other texts ignore or excuse Nelson's behavior in order to protect his image--Bennett's honest indictment is based upon Nelson's complete impotence as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean)

[J. Peter]

Bennett does an excellent job of examining Nelson's career and his strengths and weaknesses as a commander. He does not succumb to either idolization of Nelson or go to the other extreme of trashing him. Instead, he succeeds in remaining objective.

For me, as an American, this was an enjoyable read as Bennett gave several nods to either American readers or American naval achievements. In other books I've read about British naval history, unless they dealt with a period as late as WWII, the early American navy is largely dismissed.

[Gerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

If one is looking for a biography, a military biography without a lot of domestic details, this is it in three hundred pages. It’s not supposed to be a panegyric in prose, but, reading it, I felt a little as if I was reading one. I guess His Lordship was just that good. The author does cover Nelson’s two tactical blunders, Tenerife (which cost him an arm) and Boulogne (the French were ready) and the impact his dalliance with Mrs. Hamilton had on his performance of duty in the Mediterranean. Why Nelson was great was his dedication to duty (well, except that dalliance…), his leadership, strategic and tactical brilliance, and his efforts in fulfilling the belief that the enemy is not to be merely defeated but annihilated. The author does not come out and say Nelson was the greatest admiral in history (Marcus Agrippa and Yi Sun-sin are worthy peers), but I suspect he believes it. I think he was a little hard on Nelson's wronged wife, using "neurotic" as if it were her given name. I had trouble following the naval combats; the maps were of some help but not enough. Suffice it to say the Brits won, usually. There is a chapter describing why they usually would; in brief, it was their sheer professionalism.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Geoffrey Bennett’s book on Nelson’s military career, and a dabble into his personal life, keeps to a tight chronological order, he touches on each phase of Nelson’s life, mixing the personal and professional with restrained ease.

The main issue I found with this book was Geoffrey’s description of Trafalgar, the obvious capstone of Nelson’s career. It was probably the most disjointed, confusing, and ultimately dull description of the Battle of Trafalgar I have ever read. There was way too much detail and not nearly enough storytelling. Which is a pity as the rest of his book is actually a relatively good read. Although, he does drop a lot of navy jargon, without explanation sadly, which is very distracting.

Overall, this is a solid unbiased biography, until the final summation which does indulge in some hero-worshipping. In fact, he was scathing in his critique of Nelson in his chapter on the seduction by the Neapolitan court and Emma’s liaison. So, whilst well short of a seminal work, it is still a good addition to a Napoleonic naval history library.

[Rachel Feeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative examination of Nelson’s life and legacy as a military officer. The text is straightforward, with supplemental tables, photos, charts, and a timeline summarizing each chapter. Given the density of information - names of battles, ships, captains, flown all about - this book is probably most accessible for those with a moderate familiarity of western Europe from 1770 to 1805. Beyond the historic information, I appreciate Bennet’s view that one can learn from and respect the greatness of past heroes without turning a blind eye to their flaws.

[Mr G Barlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting historical facts.