Nelson: Love and Fame

There are new works on Nelson that contain more originality--that's true. But I believe that this may be the most accessible single-volume biography and will thus probably sell well, and deservedly so, during 2005, the bicentennial of the Battle of Trafalgar. I hope so. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Even so, the book is very good and will be a nice addition to your library. My thoughts are that this book is for someone who knows nothing or little about Horatio Lord Nelson. Whereas the Nelson fan will already have read all the contents elsewhere the novice will find this a very useful single-volume overview. I strongly recommend it for those readers.

I disagree with "Rheumor" (below) who thinks that we should not compare books about Lord Nelson. We can't (I can't anyway) buy EVERY book, so it is helpful to learn that this book, by Edgar Vincent, is not as good as Joel Hayward's in terms of original military analysis, but may be as good, or possibly better, in terms of narrating the admiral's entire life. Hayward's book, after all, is not strictly a biography. Vincent's is.Isn't this a good distinction to note?My advice is buy both because they both contain different things and both reach an outstanding standard.

I agree with the last reviewer that Joel Hayward's book "FOR GOD AND GLORY" is much better than this book in terms of assessing Lord Nelson as a naval warrior and military commander. Hayward's book is an instant classic! It will be much discussed by Nelson enthusiasts for years to come. Buy it!But that should not detract from a positive review of this book by Edgar Vincent, which is a more traditional biographical-type book that is very well done. Vincent does a very nice job indeed of narrating Lord Neloson's life and romances. He adds little to what we already know, that is true, but he nonetheless writes with such flair that even the well-known story seems fresh and entertaining.This book, if a comparison needs to be made, is better than Christopher Hibbert's, and is written with more fluency than Oman's classic biography. I rate it highly.

This is not the best new book on Lord Nelson. That honour goes to a book that, because it's not published and promoted by such a lucrative publisher, probably won't sell as well as this one.That is a pity, because Joel Hayward's FOR GOD AND GLORY: LORD NELSON AND HIS WAY OF WAR is undoubtedly the most original and thought-provoking book on Nelson written in twenty or thirty years. I strongly recommend it.This book, by Mr Vincent, has a very different focus. It follows a well-trodden path, adding little to the view of Nelson put forward by Pocock, White, Oman and Warner. It deals with Nelson's personal life and almost pscho-analyses his personality. This can be irritating, even if Mr Vincent's treatment is generally fair.The author knows little about the Georgian navy and the warfare of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. Reader wanting to know about this should consult Hayward, White and Brian Lavery.But as a biography, as opposed to analytical naval analysis, this book is entertaining and well written. Nelson as a man emerges from the pages as an odd little fellow, but a charming and brilliant one.