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Napoleon's Lost Fleet: Bonaparte, Nelson, and the Battle of the Nile [Hardcover]

Laura Foreman (Author), Ellen Blue Phillips (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)


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Book Description

August 29, 1999
August 1, 1798: Thirteen French ships sit anchored in Aboukir Bay off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt, in support of Napoleon, now ashore with the bulk of his troops. Nighttime approaches--and so do the British.

Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson has for months been hunting Napoleon at sea; now, upon his command, the English fleet opens fire on the surprised and trapped enemy. By battle's end, nearly all of the French ships are sunk or captured, and the 120-gun flagship Orient--the pride of the French navy--has exploded. With 1,700 of his men dead, Bonaparte's ability to dominate the region is crushed. Nelson becomes a hero throughout all of Britain.

Discovery Books presents Napoleon's Lost Fleet: Bonaparte, Nelson, and the Battle of the Nile, a spirited chronicle of Lord Nelson's pursuit of Napoleon as the French general set out to capture Egypt. Gifted storytellers Laura Foreman and Ellen Blue Phillips bring this great age of naval warfare to life as they recount the greed, audacity, bravery, and bloodshed that made up this, the Battle of the Nile.

With equal parts bold narrative and historical accuracy, the authors show Bonaparte and Nelson as complex and brilliant militarists destined to lead their countries to glory. That Nelson prevailed in Egypt was testament to his impudence, his highly maneuverable ships--and considerable good fortune. Despite an ill-equipped, undermanned, and financially strapped navy, Napoleon had assembled a formidable armada of 13 battleships, 300 transport vessels, and 38,000 men. His plan to conquer Egypt--which started off with a treasure-raiding stop at Malta along the way--might well have succeeded if the pursuing Nelson had not followed a hunch about Bonaparte's destination.

Following this riveting account of the chase, the battle, and the aftermath, the book takes readers far beneath Aboukir Bay with French underwater explorer Franck Goddio and his team as they dive at the site of the Orient and two other sunken French ships, the Serieuse and the Artemise. There they uncover and salvage exotic coins, artillery, personal artifacts, and other finds that speak eloquently of life at sea and at war in the late eighteenth century.

Lavishly illustrated with more than 200 extraordinary full-color photographs, expedition images, portraits, scenic paintings, and battle maps, Napoleon's Lost Fleet joins military history with cutting-edge marine archaeology to captivate all lovers of discovery.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

On August 1, 1798, Admiral Horatio Nelson and the British navy sailed into Abukir Bay, Egypt. After months of searching the Mediterranean Sea, Nelson finally had the French fleet cornered. Disregarding naval convention, Nelson readied his fleet for battle even though it was nearing evening. By the end of the next day, the French fleet was in tatters and Napoleon's flagship, the enormous Orient, had exploded with such fury that fewer than 100 of the 1,000 or so men aboard her survived. Nelson and his "Band of Brothers" had achieved a spectacular victory in what Patrick O'Brian called "the best naval battle of the millennium."

Napoleon's Lost Fleet recounts the story of the Battle of the Nile and the underwater archaeological expedition to the remains of the Orient in Abukir Bay. Lavishly illustrated, full of informative sidebars, the book careens around from topic to topic like Nelson chasing the French fleet around the Mediterranean--highlighting Napoleon, Josephine, Egyptian art, naval life, Nelson, and even Emma Hamilton. Short shrift is given to the valiant Comte de Brueys, the French admiral, who dreaded meeting the English fleet but was stranded waiting for orders from Napoleon--100 miles away in Cairo. Those caveats aside, Napoleon's Lost Fleet is a remarkably handsome volume, and the history--though haphazardly presented--is sound and accessible. Naval historians will find little new here, but armchair sea dogs and Aubrey-Maturin fans will enjoy the anecdotes, maps, and salty narrative. Anglophiles may wish to adopt an alternate title: Nelson Trounces the French, Act 1. --Sunny Delaney

From Library Journal

Lavishly illustrated and crisply written, this polished history succeeds on several levels as it depicts one of history's greatest naval battles and the two military men whose names will be forever linked. The Battle of the Nile, fought in 1798 in Egypt's Abukir Bay between the British fleet commanded by Lord Horatio Nelson and the French fleet of Napoleon Bonaparte, prevented the Mediterranean Sea from becoming a French lake and ensured Britain's dominance as the only global naval power in the Napoleonic era. Nelson's astonishingly bold nighttime victory over the French made Nelson a hero and forced Napoleon to abandon his army in Egypt and flee back to France. In addition to the naval battle, the authors (both journalists) provide dramatic background to the lives of both Nelson the sailor and Napoleon the emperor. The spirited narrative also includes a photo essay of the 1996 underwater archaeological discovery of the French fleet at the bottom of Abukir Bay. A superb companion to the Discovery Channel's television program of the same name; recommended for all public libraries.AWilliam D. Bushnell, USMC (ret.), Brunswick, ME
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 216 pages
  • Publisher: Discovery Books; 1st edition (August 29, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1563318318
  • ISBN-13: 978-1563318313
  • Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,117,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Napoleon in Egypt makes wonderful history reading for all, August 22, 2000
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This review is from: Napoleon's Lost Fleet: Bonaparte, Nelson, and the Battle of the Nile (Hardcover)
Accompanying a Discovery episode, the book tells the story of Napoleon's conquest of Egypt, and his Battle of the Nile with Lord Nelson. Beautifully illustrated, the authors dramatically relate the surrounding events in a detailed and clear style. A final chapter about excavations by Frank Goddio and his underwater team has provided marvelous photographs and much information about recent discoveries. Definitely a must-read for all interested in historical events, Napoleon, marine archaeology and Egypt.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book!, April 7, 2003
This review is from: Napoleon's Lost Fleet: Bonaparte, Nelson, and the Battle of the Nile (Hardcover)
This large and attractive book was created by the Discovery Channel, to tell the story of the Battle of the Nile. Brimming with details, the book tells the story of the French Revolution and the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, followed by the life of Horatio Nelson, and the exciting finale: a minute-by-minute retelling of the Battle of the Nile in 1798. Along the way, the reader is treated to many excellent pictures, charts and graphs, not to mention a plethora of highly informative sidebars.

This is a wonderful book, one that will please readers that know nothing about the subject, and those that know a lot. I am very glad that I was able to get ahold of it, and highly recommend it to you!

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Napoleon on the Nile, May 31, 2009
This review is from: Napoleon's Lost Fleet: Bonaparte, Nelson, and the Battle of the Nile (Hardcover)
Master of the Nile? Admiral Horatio Nelson won the battle of the Nile, but make no mistake, General Napoleon Bonaparte took the opportunity to spin the melee to become the master of his destiny. Following the epic confrontation on Egypt's mighty river, both world warriors Bonaparte and Nelson rocketed to star status in the heavens of France and England, respectively.

In previous reviews of Laura Foreman's books I have raved. Once again she expertly paints a picture of her subject matter in great detail in her work, Napoleon's Lost Fleet. From childhood to his final days on the Isle of St. Helena, Foreman intimately introduces the reader to Napoleon. She gives equal treatment to his rival, Admiral Nelson. Like her work on Alexander the Great and Cleopatra the VII, this book includes vivid pictures of undersea archaeology, as well as classic works of art inspired by Emperor Bonaparte in general and the siege of the Nile in particular.

I find the only shortcoming of the book is that it only briefly summarizes Bonaparte's political and military conquests after the battle of the Nile. However, the book is fully entitled, Napoleon's Lost Fleet: Bonaparte, Nelson, and the Battle of the Nile. To that end Laura Foreman delivers in abundance.

Perhaps the future will find Foreman penning a book on other iconic leaders like Emperor Chin, Genghis Khan or Suleiman the Magnificent.

Napoleon's Lost Fleet: Bonaparte, Nelson, and the Battle of the Nile
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