Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

This is the thread dedicated to the discussion of Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar.

TRAFALGAR AND THE LONG TERM IMPACT:

NAPOLEON, NELSON AND THE FRENCH THREAT:

NELSON: THE HERO AND THE MAN

NELSON AND LADY HAMILTON: A VERY PUBLIC AFFAIR

WOMEN IN NELSON'S NAVY:

BATTLEFIELD ACADEMY GAME:



ANIMATED MAP: BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR

I read a great bio of Nelson a year or so ago. It is Nelson: The Immortal Memory by David and Stephen Howarth. Before I read the book I knew next to nothing about Nelson, just that he was a great British Admiral who had a statue at Trafalgar Square. The things one learns from reading!

(no author images available)

Great add Elizabeth...that is what I hope the interest areas will do - folks will add books that they have read and or want to discuss. And they will find books of interest that they might want to read.

One of the authors (David) served as a war correspondent during the battle of Dunkirk and won awards for his service as a secret agent during that war,

It looks like the authors have done some more on Nelson and many other great history books:


Trafalgar The Nelson Touch



David Howarth

Stephen Howarth

Source - Wikipedia

Forgot to add the author links! I was so busy checking to make sure I wasn't missing their pictures. :) And thanks for looking into it some more, Bentley.

I thought Howarth was an interesting character..so I dug a little further...would not have done so without your pointing out that fantastic looking book on Nelson.

I was browsing the Naval War College's bookstore a few months back, and there must have been 30 or 40 copies of The Pursuit of Victory by Roger Knight displayed in the stacks. I've been waiting for a used copy of it to appear, but I have yet to come across one.


Roger Knight

These are a few books that I have in my collection about Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar. Also, I have been wanting to read, The Great War at Sea, 1793-1815 by Noel Mostert. Maybe after I shed some of my current commitments first, but I would love to start it. It looks like an amazing story.

[image error]

John Sugden
Roy Adkins
Noel Mostert
Adam Nicolson
Nicholas Best

I must admit, C.S. Forester's Hornblower series has sparked my interest to learn more.

There are so many books to read and so little time. You have posted some great selections Joe.

May I also add; "Nelson: Britannia's God of War" by Andrew Lambert, ISBN 0-571-21222-0 and "Trafalgar: An Eyewitness History" by Tom Pocock (The Folio Society -2005).

Thank you Rick. Of course, please add any books and authors that you would recommend on any thread with a specific topical interest. We all appreciate these recommendations.

Are you aware of the add book/author feature from goodreads? Right above the comment box are the words add book/author.

We try to add both when we do recommendations so that folks can just click on the link to find out more about the book and click on the photo or the link of the author to find out what other books have been written by the same person. This will bring them to the write up of the book and even the ISBN number and other info.

This assists all group members in finding the books quickly and if they like being able to acquire them in some fashion. We usually try to add the book cover and the author's photo; but we add the author's link when the photo is not available.

In the case of the Lambert book, the book cover was available and the author did not have a photo; but there was the link with his name.

Andrew Lambert

The second one has the book cover available and once again only the link to the author's name.

Tom Pocock

Thank you for some great additions.

I just picked up this book for a couple of dollars at the downtown Chapters sale



Adam Nicolson

This is a book that should be here; "Billy Ruffian: The Bellerophon and the Downfall of Napoleon - The Biography of a Ship of the Line, 1782-1836" by David Cordingly. This is a great story and anyone who enjoys naval history should love this book.

by David Cordingly
Reviews:
“A thrilling narrative which brings engaging the enemy so alive that you smell the cordite of the guns and hear the splintering of mighty masts and spars� � Independent

�'A masterly account and, like all good biographies, says as much, if not more, about the historical context as about the subject itself� - Sunday Times

“Richly entertaining and informative ... These resurrected log books, captains' letters and court martial reports give us a thrillingly up-close feeling for what it was like to live and fight through those tumultuous best of times and worst of times� - Independent on Sunday

“Cordingly has unearthed a revealing study ... The account of Napoleon's brief incarceration on the ship in July 1815 is fascinating ... original and well-researched� - Daily Telegraph

Below are details for one of the most comprehensive books available on Trafalgar:

by Mark Adkin
Publishers blurb:
"On October 21, 1805, a British fleet led by Admiral Lord Nelson effectively crippled the combined fleets of Spain and France off of Spain's Cape Trafalgar—crushing Napoleon Bonaparte's dream of invading and conquering Britain. Despite suffering a mortal wound during the battle, Nelson secured his place in history with this victory, as well as ensuring Britain's century-long naval dominance of the Continent. Adkin, a former British army officer and the author of a comparable volume on Napoleon's last campaign, The Waterloo Companion, has compiled a fitting tribute to the historic action. This heavily illustrated encyclopedic volume is packed with "facts, figures, analyses [and:] recollections" relating to the battle and Nelson's career. As such, it is two books in one—battle history and Nelson biography. There are sections detailing every conceivable aspect of nautical life in the 19th century—ships and seamanship, guns and tactics, command and control, et al.—and sidebars sprinkled throughout the narrative present anecdotes, vignettes and little-known facts. In addition to its encyclopedic coverage, the book is a visual feast with hundreds of detailed maps and diagrams and exquisite drawings. The two-page, colored drawings of many of the ships of both fleets—including Nelson's flagship, Victory—are stunning in their detail. Handsome and authoritative, this volume will give fans of naval history and warfare many hours of browsing pleasure."

I purchased a nice second-hand copy of "The Enemy at Trafalgar: Eye-Witness' Narratives, Dispatches and Letters from the French and Spanish Fleets" today at one of my favourite used book shops.

by Edward Fraser
Publishers blurb:
The greatest sea battle of the age of sail, as seen from the unusual perspective of the defeated. Edward Fraser, an experienced writer on naval subjects, compiled and translated a valuable collection from French and Spanish sources detailing what it was like to face Nelson and his highly trained British fleet. This is the only available English-language version of most French and Spanish reports well-edited to make a readable continuous narrative.

Review:
"It should not surprise anyone that, 200 years after the Battle of Trafalgar, books on the subject are appearing in record numbers. After all, it was the last and arguably the greatest fleet action of the Age of Sail, and its legacy, Lord Adm Horatio Nelson, is possibly the greatest hero England has ever known. Even more extraordinary, the publication of one of the latest volumes on the battle was prompted not by the bicentennial but by the centennial of Trafalgar.

Edward Fraser published The Enemy at Trafalgar in 1906, with the centenary celebration fresh in his mind, “to render tribute to the gallant men at whose expense our own Nelson achieved his crowning fame.� That is, English readers of a book on Trafalgar already knew the story of Nelson and Adm Cuthbert Collingwood breaking the line of the Combined Fleet and carrying the day with superior seamanship and gunnery. But they did not know the other side of the story. Fraser particularly wished to show that the battle was not a walkover for the English fleet—that the French and Spanish had in fact fought bravely and well. Although some of the newer books on Nelson and Trafalgar—for example, Tim Clayton and Phil Craig’s Trafalgar: The Men, the Battle, the Storm—endeavor to treat both sides, most accounts assume an English perspective.

Part of the difficulty, of course, is language. Most English and American readers do not read French and Spanish, and most French and Spanish accounts do not appear in English. Fraser ameliorates this problem by translating dozens of reports of the action and placing them in context. Clearly, however, the book did not intend to facilitate reading for the monolingual since one finds significant passages in untranslated French or, occasionally, in Spanish. Furthermore, Fraser sometimes includes quotations in languages with which the educated readership of an earlier generation might have been more at home: Dante in Italian, for example, or Virgil in Latin. In general, these diversions are brief and do not lead to significant interpretive difficulties for the uninitiated reader.

If Fraser falls short in the area of linguistic accessibility, he succeeds marvelously in providing an alternative perspective on the battle. That history is generally told by the winning side is an accepted position, but in studying the outcomes of battles—particularly the decisions of victorious commanders—one needs to account for adversarial decision making. Nelson’s victory makes sense only as the obverse of Adm Pierre de Villeneuve’s defeat, a point that Fraser aptly makes. In many ways he was ahead of his time—perhaps ahead of our time. How many books in English provide an Arab perspective on the Arab-Israeli wars, a Vietnamese perspective on the Vietnam War, or an Iraqi perspective on the Gulf Wars? Nor have the English learned the lesson. Among the numerous books on the Falklands War, only Martin Middlebrook’s The Fight for the “Malvinas� offers an Argentine view.

Fraser also offers readers the human perspective, providing biographical information on the French and Spanish captains and admirals that show them to be professionals and honorable men. Instead of demonizing the sailors of the Combined Fleet, he portrays them as men fighting courageously and willing to die for their countries, just as surely as Nelson was willing to die for England. He succeeds splendidly.

The Enemy at Trafalgar is not for everyone. It should never be the first book one reads about the battle since it makes too many assumptions about the reader’s knowledge. But for anyone with a reasonable grasp of this great fleet battle, it is a wonderful book. For readers without an acquaintance with French or Spanish who want to view the battle from the perspective of the other side, it may be the only game in town." - Robert S. Bolia (Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio)

The Trafalgar Campaign was a long and complicated series of fleet manoeuvres carried out by the combined French and Spanish fleets; and the opposing moves of the Royal Navy during much of 1805.

These were the culmination of French plans to force a passage through the English Channel, and so achieve a successful invasion of the United Kingdom. The plans were extremely complicated and proved to be impractical.

Much of the detail was due to the personal intervention of Napoleon, who as a soldier rather than a sailor failed to consider the effects of weather, difficulties in communication, and the intervention of the Royal Navy. Despite limited successes in achieving some elements of the plan the French commanders were unable to follow the main objective through to execution.

The campaign, which took place over thousands of miles of ocean, was marked by several naval engagements, most significantly at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October, where the combined fleet was decisively defeated, and from which the campaign takes its name.

A final mopping up action at the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4 November completed the destruction of the combined fleet, and secured the supremacy of the Royal Navy at sea.

This thread is dedicated to the discussion of this campaign.

Source: Wikipedia

by Julian Corbett

Book Synopsis:

The naval history of this period is much more than the life of Horatio Nelson (1758�1805). In two critical texts, available in modern paperback reprints, Sir Julian Corbett (1854�1922) shaped the subject. The Campaign of Trafalgar (Longman, 1910) examined grand strategy and operations from 1803 to the end of 1805. In a text designed to educate contemporary senior officers Corbett demonstrated how Nelson’s Mediterranean fleet formed but one element in the overall war effort.

Source: BBC History

I have a nice un-read Folio editon of "Trafalgar: An Eyewitness History" by Tom Pocock in my library. Here are the details in case anyone is interested in the subject:

by Tom Pocock
Publisher blurb
The battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, in which the British fleet routed French and Spanish ships off the coast of Spain, marked the final defeat of Napoleon’s plot to invade Britain � and made Nelson his nation’s greatest hero, even though it cost him his life. This book brings together first-hand accounts of the lead-up to battle, the horrors of the conflict and its aftermath. It is a story told through the letters, diaries and naval documents � many previously unpublished � of the people who witnessed it, from Nelson and his officers to the crews from both sides. They show sad farewells between sailors and their loved-ones; the pursuit of the French navy; the tension of waiting as the fateful day dawns; carnage and chaos in the heat of the battle as guns fire from all sides; and Nelson’s agonizing death on the Victory after being hit by a musket ball. Vivid, exciting and moving, this graphic recreation tells the very human story behind these historic events.

Thank you Aussie Rick for that add.

This post may look a little out of place on this thread but Nelson's death at Trafalgar had a great affect not only on the nation but on the personal life of his mistress, the notorious Lady Emma Hamilton. This book captures her glamorous, ultimately heartbreaking life from her early years until Nelson's death left her destitute. Recommended reading.

by Kate Williams

Nice post Jill, sounds like an interesting book.

Here is a book offering something a little different from the many stories on Nelson:


by Martyn Downer
Description:
The extraordinary story of a previously unknown cache of Horatio Nelson’s private possessions.

In 2002, Sotheby’s auction house announced the discovery of a major cache of material relating to the life of England’s greatest naval hero, Horatio Nelson. The finding sheds amazing light on the intimate life of Nelson, his wife and his mistress in a way hitherto denied to biographers.

The contents of this once-in-a-lifetime discovery are remarkable � some objects were believed lost, others had previously never been known to exist. Among the latter are some remarkable letters from Nelson’s jilted wife, Fanny, detailing the breakdown of their marriage. For the first time, Fanny’s role in Nelson’s life acquires real biographical substance. Also in the find are medals, swords, porcelain and jewelry, papers and letters (including some emotive letters by Emma Hamilton and Nelson himself) which shed fascinating new light on Nelson’s domestic affairs. Most dramatically, the cache also includes the bloodstained purse Nelson was carrying on the day he was shot on board HMS Victory in 1805, still containing its gold coins.

Martyn Downer, the man who made this extraordinary find and spent a year of his life validating the material, tells the extraordinary historical detective story behind this great find and its progress from discovery to auction.

It’s a gripping work of non-fiction combining historical biography with the uncovering of an extraordinary treasure trove just in time for the 200th anniversary of the battle of Trafalgar.

Wow!!! Now that is a book I can really enjoy. Thanks, AR for that tip. Can you imagine how the discoverer of that purse felt when he found it?.....a true treasure of history. I will have to read it to find out how much it sold for and who bought it.

It would have been an amazing experience finding the blood soaked purse and then all those other items, a big piece of history in your hands :)

In order to better understand the man who is Britain's greatest naval hero, this book gives the reader a glimpse into his personal thoughts of battle.

Seize, Burn, or Sink: The Thoughts and Words of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson


by Steven E. Maffeo

Synopsis
Seize, Burn, or Sink: The Thoughts and Words of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson contains over 3,000 quotations from Sir Horatio Nelson, the most famous leader in British Naval history. Taken from both Nelson's official letters as well as his personal ones, the quotes presented within bring insight into the thoughts and character of the greatest fighting admiral who ever lived. Historian Steven Maffeo has carefully boiled down more than 4,000 letters and documents of Nelson's writing to single out the cream of Nelsonian commentary. Organized chronologically by topic, Nelson's "cheerful, urgent but often wayward and usually unpunctuated stream of consciousness" tackles everything from death and desertion to leadership and loyalty. It is a goldmine of information and insight on this extraordinary man who has continued to capture the imagination of individuals for generations.

Looks like an excellent account Jill.

Carola Oman's book on Nelson is supposed to be the benchmark that all others are compared to although it was first published in 1947. I found a nice new hardback edition on sale last week and snapped it up of course :)


by Carola Oman
Description:
Carola Oman's classic work sets the standard against which all biographies of Nelson can be judged. The first accounts of the life of Britain's most famous admiral contained many inaccuracies and flaws which were repeated in the work of later writers. Carola Oman, however, "had more and better material than anyone who went before her; and she used it so brilliantly that everyone who came after her was bound to be influenced by her work," as Stephen Howarth writes in his introduction to this new edition.

Carola Oman had access not only to all of the 19th-century and early 20th-century accounts of Nelson's life and battles, but also to primary sources (including Nelson's letters in autograph) which either had never been published or had suffered from unscrupulous editing. With these resources she was able to check, correct and develop much of what had previously appeared in print, discarding the myths that had gained credence through repetition. This new edition of Nelson contains her original source notes in full.

The work of an experienced and skillful author, Nelson is both factually sound and very readable. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to know about the great naval commander's life

Thank you both.

A book that parallels the rise of the "cult of hero" and Nelson's victory at Trafalgar.

Seize The Fire

by Adam Nicolson

Synopsis

The author uses the battle of Trafalgar to examine ideas of heroism and the heroic. Is violence a necessary aspect of the hero? Why did the cult of the hero flower in the ate 18th and 19th centuries in a way it hadn't for 200 years? This book evokes the realities of battle but also probes the hearts and minds of the men who were there.

The amazing "ship in the bottle" which now rests on one of the plinths in Trafalgar Square in London.....a replica of the HMS Victory, Admiral Lord Nelson's ship at the battle of Trafalgar.

That's wonderful! Next time I'm in London, I'll have to take a look.

The Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth is terrific and the docent tour of the Victory was very enlightening. (Our tour guide looked like , really).

There is a small summary of the history of the Victory on their website:

Love it, Jill, awesome.

Thanks for the website, G.

The artist who created the "ship in the bottle" is Yina Shodibare and it is part of a project to link the history of the Empire with Britain's multicultural present.

I found these interesting facts about the Battle of Trafalgar at the Daily Mail (UK) site. Good stuff here for the history buff.

*Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson was not the only Nelson who fought at Trafalgar - there were nine Nelsons at the battle.

* One of his namesakes, John Nelson, deserted the Royal Navy in February the following year aged 29 having collected his prize money of £1 17s 8d. He was born in Portsmouth and served on board HMS Tonnant at Trafalgar.

* There were more than 18,000 men who served in the British fleet at Trafalgar including nearly 3,000 marines

* Two of the Nelsons that served in the battle were from Denmark

* Only one in six sailors were press-ganged into joining Nelson's navy dispelling the myth that the majority had been forced into service

* The British fleet was a multi-national force with nearly 10 per cent of its fleet, 1,400 men, came from 25 countries outside the British Isles

* A total of 58 Frenchmen were among 750 sailors from across Europe which fought on the British side. Another 430 came from the US and Canada and 156 from the Caribbean Islands

* Of the British contingent, 25 per cent came from Ireland (nearly 4,000), 9 per cent from Scotland (1,300), and 3 per cent from Wales (some 500)

* Of the remainder, three-quarters came from the coastal counties, the largest number from Devon, followed by Lancashire, Kent, Hampshire and Cornwall

* The largest single nationality was, of course, the English, with 7,000 men serving and one in 10 of these from London

* For the marines, three quarters were English

* More than half of the sailors were aged in their 20s with 274 boys aged between 10 and 14

* Less than one in 10 were over 40. Nelson was 47

* The oldest at Trafalgar was Walter Burke, the purser (supply officer) of Victory who was 69. He survived the battle and lived 10 years more before dying at the aged of 79 in 1815

* The majority of the men involved were between 5ft 2in and 5ft 8in tall with Nelson himself standing 5ft 7in tall

* A total of 624 British sailors and marines were killed at Trafalgar and another 1,402 wounded

* Losses on the French and Spanish side were much greater - estimated to be 7,300

Some interesting information there Jill, thanks for sharing.

I thought you might like those bits of trivia. I was surprised at the small number of press-ganged sailors....another myth dispelled.

For the true naval historian, here is a map of the ships of the line at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Here is the second & final volume by John Sugden covering Admiral Nelson:



by John Sugden
Description:
Nelson: we think that we are familiar with the man behind the name. But, in this second volume of his authoritative biography, John Sugden delves behind the myths, strips back the apocrypha, and reveals a figure both intimately familiar and greatly estranged.

Sugden interweaves graphic accounts of the well-known battles of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar with Nelson's lesser-known but equally gripping campaigns to liberate the Italian states from French domination, his role in the blockade of Malta and his turbulent relations with the volatile Barbary powers, often snatching remarkable triumphs from crippling reverses.

But behind his military prowess was a man riven with paradoxes and schisms at the very heart of his personal life. Sugden paints a vivid composition of Nelson as glory-hunter and national hero, humanitarian and hardened military leader, family man and adulterer.

Sugden opens up to us a man who was ever thwarted in his quest for happiness and personal fulfillment. Nelson spent four years developing 'Paradise Merton' in Surrey as a sanctuary where he could live with his mistress and illegitimate daughter, only to be thwarted in his ambition for domestic tranquility by his own death at Trafalgar.

These elements, the triumphant and the tragic, lend an epic yet human quality to the life of Nelson, fully exploited here in a richly detailed narrative that teems with a glittering array of eighteenth-century ladies and gentlemen, heroes and villains, husbands, wives and lovers.

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has a wonderful synopsis of Nelson and Trafalgar at the web site below:



Oxford Dictionary Of National Biography (no cover available) by Oxford University Press

The web site noted below is full of information about the battle of Trafalgar. I found it very enlightening and well done.

We all know about the Battle of Trafalgar but where exactly is it located? This little map shows the site of one of the most famous naval battles in history.

Thank you Jill.

The HMS Victory, Nelson's flag ship is honored in this book about her role at Trafalgar and what happened to her after Nelson's death.

by John Christopher

Synopsis:

This is the story of Britain's most illustrious warship, immortalized as Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship in the Battle of Trafalgar. Constructed from the wood of over 6,000 trees, HMS Victory was designed as a "first rate ship," the Admiralty's designation for its largest ships of the line which packed a formidable punch with more than 100 guns arranged on three decks. In addition to the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS Victory saw action in the First and Second Battles of Ushant and during the Battle of Cape St Vincent. After bringing Nelson's body back to England, the Victory sailed out on a number of expeditions until her retirement in 1812. This magnificent ship is now the centerpiece of Portsmouth's historic docks and serves as the oldest naval ship still in commission. HMS Victory provides a fascinating insight into the lives of the British sailors who served on her.

Nelson's flagship HMS Victory, in all her glory, now in dry dock at Portsmouth.

For the serious student of Nelson and how he waged war.

For God and Glory: Lord Nelson and His Way of War

by Joel S.A. Hayward (no photo)

Synopsis

Taking a highly original, thematic approach to the study of Horatio Lord Nelson, Joel Hayward analyzes the admiral's unique war-fighting style, doctrine, tactics, and operational art, his command and leadership abilities, and his attitudes and beliefs. But Hayward reveals how all these elements combined to form the man whose infectious ethos spread through his entire force. He shows that Nelson's creative genius, excitable and intense personality, dramatic visage, and fervor for all things martial not only inspired courage and loyalty but so dazzled and enflamed the hearts and minds of his men that he reached near cult status in his lifetime." As a professional military analyst who has devoted his career to researching, writing, and teaching about the tactics and operational art of warfare, Hayward draws on his own training and experience to view the admiral's war fighting from a vantage point not accessible to many of Nelson's leading biographers. He breaks free from the constraints of chronology to explore in greater-than-usual depth and coherence the key aspects of Nelson's fighting style and to answer questions not previously raised about that style and its supporting ideas, including to what degree Nelson's style can be adopted by modern warriors. For Nelson scholars and enthusiasts this book serves as a companion to the more traditional studies of the great admiral. For students of warfare it provides a professional guide to the period

Admiral Lord Nelson put his reputation on the line for the love of his life, Lady Emma Hamilton. This is another biography of her glorious and tragic life.

Beloved Emma

by Flora Fraser

Synopsis:

From her humble beginnings as the daughter of a countryside blacksmith, Emy Lyon went on to claim the undying love of naval hero Admiral Nelson, England’s most famous native son. She served as model and muse to eighteenth-century Europe’s most renowned artists, and consorted with kings and queens at the royal court of Naples. Yet she would end her life in disgraced exile, penniless and alone. In this richly drawn portrait, Flora Fraser maps the spectacular rise and fall of legendary eighteenth-century beauty Emma, Lady Hamilton—as she came to be called—a woman of abundant affection and overwhelming charm, whose eye for opportunity was rivaled only by her propensity for overindulgence and scandal. Wonderfully intimate and lavishly detailed, Beloved Emma brings to life the incomparable Lady Hamilton and the politics, passions, and enchantments of her day

This informative book describes the lives of all British warships which carried the illustrious name of HMS Victory with special attention to Nelson's flagship.

HMS Victory: Warships of the Royal Nay

by Iain Ballantyne (no photo)

Synopsis:

There is no more illustrious warship name in British naval history H.M.S. Victory, which is inextricably linked with Admiral Lord Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar. This fascinating book, the latest in the Famous Warships of the Royal Navy series, clebrates all three at the 200th anniversary of Nelson's greatest triumph and his death in H.M.S. Victory.

What is less well-known is that six warships before Nelson's carried the name Victory, the first bieng Sir John Hawkins' during the Battle of the Armada in 1588. All manner of maritime life is included in this book, from piracy in the Azores to gentlemanly encounters between the fleets as well as the battle of annihilation that was Trafalgar. The full horror, majesty and thunder of naval warfare in the age of fighting sail are revealed through the first-hand accounts of those who were there.

Superbly illustrated, well-researched and written by two leading maritime experts, H.M.S. Victory will be enjoyed by all those for whom naval heritage, Nelson and his ship hold a fascination