Nelson the commander

A simple title for a book, perhaps. On closer scrutiny, however, this title becomes all the more appropriate for a book which seeks to go beyond that which we thought we knew about this great hero and his many great victories. Geoffrey Bennett was a distinguished naval historian who also served for 35 years in the Royal Navy. As such, he brings an understanding of naval history and naval issues to this book in a way which is rarely achieved and, together, these attributes combine to create the most interesting read. In telling the reader about the "real" Nelson - faults and all, the author does not seek to remove this great hero of Trafalgar from his worthy pedestal. Instead, in this well written biography, he sets out to ensure that Nelson remains firmly where he belongs - as the man he was, rather than as the mythical legend in which light he is so often portrayed. In short, we have read about the legend, now we learn about the human being that was that legend. Although there are a few minor typographical errors on photograph captions, the selection of images is exactly right and adds much to the overall interest in the work. NM

This is one of the best biographies about Nelson ever written. The author's main goal of this book was to tell the story of Nelson the man rather than Nelson the legend. In this he succeeds admirably