Book description
A thrilling new appraisal of Horatio Nelson, the greatest
practitioner of naval command the world has ever seen. What made
Nelson so special? His peers included many able and pugnacious
commanders, the Royal Navy was already the most successful
professional fighting force of the age - so what individual quality
led Byron rightly to celebrate Nelson's genius as 'Britannia's God of
War'? Andrew Lambert demonstrates how Nelson elevated the business of
naval warfare to the level of the sublime. Nelson's unique gift was to
take that which other commanders found complex, and reduce it to
simplicity. Where his predecessors and opponents saw a particular
battle as an end in itself, Nelson was always a step ahead - even in
the midst of terrifying, close-quarters action, with officers and men
struck down all round him. Nelson explores the professional, personal,
intellectual and practical origins of one man's genius, to understand
how the greatest warrior that Britain has ever produced transformed
the art of conflict, enabling his country to survive the challenge of
total war and international isolation.
Professor Andrew Lambert is Professor of Naval History at King's
College London. His books include Trincomalee: the Last of Nelson's
Frigates and The Foundations of Naval History. War at Sea, his highly
successful history of the British Navy, was broadcast on BBC2.
