Revered to nearly god-like status in the UK, Horatio Nelson is considered by most to be the finest Naval strategist in world history. All of this based on four battles in which only three of them was he in overall command. He had a way of thinking 'outside the box' that endeared him to his seniors at the Admiralty, even while his personal behavior would have gotten most others removed from service; several times.

It is a typical rags to riches sort of story where, but for fortune, he would have not achieved the greatness for which he is known. A man who was vain, petulant and enamored in the trappings of success, he was also decisive, willing to put himself at risk, and willing to do what he saw as the correct action, despite the orders of his senior officers. In fact, his first great triumph at the battle of Cape St. Vincent was where he first showed his abilities and advanced thinking.

Such was his personal bravery that in just about every battle situation in which he was involved, he was injured to some extent. He lost an eye in a failed attack on a Spanish fort in Nicaragua. Lost an arm at another failed assault at Tenerif and finally lost his life at Trafalgar.

As good as he was while at sea, his personal life was one of the soap operas. While in Naples, he fell for the 23 year old wife of the British ambassador, William Hamilton. With apparently her husband's acquiescence, he carried on a torrid affair, ignoring both his military duties and his wife back in England. In fact, he pretty much cast aside his wife for much of the rest of his life, living in an unusual triad with Emma Hamilton and her husband.

There is much more to this book than the general synopsis provided. It is a story of a man who was remarkable in so many ways. A man who was both a brilliant tactician in battle and childish in his personal affairs.  An outstanding read on an equally outstanding man and one you should not pass up.

January 2012

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