Nelson's Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed the World

I am quite sure that virtually everyone else that has reviewed this book knows more about the battle of Trafalgar than I do. What I can tell you, quickly and concisely, is that if you are thinking of buying this book don't think, just buy it. Not only could Roy Adkins write a phone book and make it interesting, he has written an historical account and turned it into a book that reads like a novel. This is a great, great volume. I found it almost impossible to put down; this book will make you fall in love with history all over again.

Nelson's Trafalgar: The Battle That Changed The World by Roy Adkins Bought it a couple of months ago, but never got to finish it, until now. Just in time, too, since I just saw "Pirates Of The Carribean 3", which were using the same ships mentioned in the book, so I got to appreciate what a "3-Deck Ship Of The Line" looks like. 'Background' The book is about the Battle of Trafalgar, one of the most decisive & spectacular sea battles in the history of mankind. To give a short summary: Napoleon wanted to invade Britain & claim it as part of the French Empire he was establishing. But doing so requires a seaborne crossing, & because of that he had to make sure that Britain's Navy is sunk, or at least heavily damaged so he can proceed w/ the invasion. The British knew this, of course, & the legendary Lord Horatio Nelson, the then Admiral of the British Navy assigned w/ the mission to find & destroy the combined French & Spanish fleet, thought the best defense, was a good offense. So the British fleet pursued & finally cornered the combined French & Spanish fleet on the port of Cadiz in Spain, where they established a blockade. They then just waited for the French & Spanish fleet to sail out, & engage them in a decisive battle that they hope will destroy it, & prevent Napoleon's invasion. 'Detailed Information' One great things about this book, is that it assumes (rightfully so) that most of its readers are not that familiar w/ 18th century naval warfare. The author, Roy Adkins, is both a HISTORIAN, & ARCHAELOGIST, so the book ended up w/ lot of ACCURATE & DETAILED information not only about the battle, but also things related to naval warfare at that time. For example, the first chapters are devoted to things like: - How the Sailors & Officers lived at that time; - The ships, & the weaponry; - The strategy & tactics; - The political background; - The diferences between the French, Spanish & British navies; - Nearly EVERYTHING, except the toilet. Oh, wait, they have that, too. The preparation is so good, that by the time the first shots are just about to be fired to start the battle, you end up almost as excited as the participants in that war. 'The Battle of Trafalgar' The battle itself is REALLY intense. You could almost visualize the ships as they started trading cannon-fire broadsides at each other, w/ cannon & musket balls flying everywhere, throwing out huge chunks of timber, & flesh & bones. You could almost see the men as they screamed & died, while others went about trying to do their assigned tasks to take out the opposing ship. There are quite a number of illustrations throughout the book to help you understand better some of the terminologies, & also to show the disposition of the forces as the battle progressed. In the end, Britain proved it is unchallenged in the seas, w/ none of their ships surrendering despite heavy damage, while taking out of action almost hal

Roy Adkins is not by trade a naval historian, but you wouldn't know it to read this book. Nelson's Trafalgar is a richly detailed, captivatingly written account of the famous battle that fits a niche in reading culture today, that of intelligent, smartly written, but digestible historical work. Interspersing the excellent running narrative of the battle are vignettes that relate vast detail on life at sea, training, gunnery, life onboard ship, surgical teams treating casualties during battle, rations, and many other aspects of sailing life during this age. Additionally, a battle this complex is often difficult to mentally picture while reading, so Adkins includes numerous illustrations that depict the ship movements throughout the battle. The writing style is fluid and energetic, the prose never dull or dry as in so many scholarly works. Adkins makes excellent use of first person source material, quoting widely from remembrances of participants, and including as much French and Spanish refererence material as possible.(The lack of French and Spanish first hand accounts contrast the trove of material by the British. This points to the importance of this battle in British popular memory through the years and Napoleon's attempts to gloss over the battle.) This book is one of my favorites of the year. It is rare to simply enjoy reading a book so much, especially one on a topic that has been written about endlessly. Well worth the money.

Roy Adkins has done an outstanding job of portraying the Battle of Trafalgar in all its fearsome detail. This book is an easy read as Adkins narrative flows easily around the events bringing the whole event to life. This is a comprehensive history of one of the battles that resulted in English being the most spoken language on the planet as the British Empire was built on sea power. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject of Nelson and Trafalgar.

I'm a big fan of Roy Adkins, having read his books on archaeology--which I treasure on my bookshelves. Adkins magnificently details this historic naval battle between the French and Spanish on the one side and the British on the other. Adkins not only gives a memorable overview of the battle, but he also takes the time to explain various aspects of life at the time on board ship, as well as the reasons leading to the battle. What is also a great surprise is that there was a huge storm afterwards, in which more far people lost their lives than in the battle itself. The author then goes on to recount how the news was brought to England after the battle and how it spread to the rest of the world. This is a very stirring and often sad story, much recommended.