The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson [Hardcover]

Roger Knight (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 28, 2005

How did Horatio Nelson achieve such extraordinary success? In this authoritative biography, the eminent scholar Roger Knight places him firmly in the context of the Royal Navy of the time. Nelson was passionate and relentless from the outset of his career; his charisma and his coolness in battle are legendary. But his success depended also on the strength of intelligence available to him, the quality of the ships he commanded, the potency of his guns, and the skill of his seamen. Based on a vast array of new sources, this biography demolishes many of the myths that have for two centuries surrounded Nelson. Knight demonstrates that this great Romantic hero was in his time a shrewd political operator and often a difficult subordinate. He was occasionally naive, often impatient, and only happy when completely in command. Readers will emerge from this biography with a greatly enriched understanding of this singular man-one who was brilliant, severely flawed, and never to be crossed. Errata pp. 638 - 665: http://www.perseusbookspromos.com/docs/KnightErrataPP638-665.pdf

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Adm. Horatio Nelson became a national idol after smashing Napoleon's fleet in the 1798 Battle of the Nile. Killed in the victory at Trafalgar in 1805, he became England's greatest naval hero. The 200 years since have produced an avalanche of biographies, but Knight's book may be the best. No reader should shrink from its size because it's a page-turner. Entering the Royal Navy at 12 (the usual age), Nelson quickly demonstrated the skill, aggressiveness and charisma of a born leader. It didn't hurt that he had a genius for charming superiors, inspiring fierce loyalty from seamen and befriending colleagues. But Nelson was a man of his time, fawning over royalty, pursuing prize money, quick to defend slights to his rank and obsessively scheming for publicity and promotion. He could also be a vicious disciplinarian. In addition to this lucid, warts-and-all portrayal of his subject, Knight paints a vivid picture of the warfare in which Nelson excelled. Handling an 18th-century man-of-war required as much skill as maneuvering a 21st-century aircraft carrier. Directing a battle fleet before the age of steam and radio probably required even more. The author makes it all clear in this highly readable, authoritative and deeply satisfying biography. (Dec.)
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From Booklist

While naval-history readers anticipate the completion of John Sugden's biography (Nelson: A Dream of Glory, v.1, 1758-1797, 2004), naval scholar Knight offers a competing work. Produced (like Sugden's) from primary research, Knight's Nelson undergoes a scrubbing of myth and factual error, which have been attached to him over two centuries of writings. Knight is also attentive to the technicalities of operating age-of-sail warships, which--labor-dependent as they were--would tell in battle more by the quality of their crew than the weight of their armament. Knight appraises Nelson as an exceptional ship captain, lenient with the lash and generally liked by his men. Recounting Nelson's every voyage (with matching charts) during his ascent from midshipman to admiral, Knight develops the increasing nautical skill and personal fearlessness with which Nelson impressed his superiors. Bereft by the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar of one arm and one eye and soon to lose his life, Knight's Nelson appears like a real person: petulant, a cold husband but warm adulterer, and deserving of his status as Britain's national hero. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 936 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1St Edition edition (November 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 046503764X
• ISBN-13: 978-0465037643
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #213,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Biography of Nelson I've Read, June 4, 2006

By 

Suzanne Cross "Bibliophilos" (Santa Fe, New Mexico United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson (Hardcover)

As others have noted, there are many biographies of Nelson, and almost all of them suffer from the same problem: that a man so brilliant, talented, contradictory, demented, jealous, generous, gracious, foolish, naive and clear-thinking is very hard to understand. The fact that his death at the triumphant British naval victory of Trafalgar in 1805 immediately turned his life into legend, means that from first to last it's been hard to get a handle on Nelson the flawed but unique human being.

I've read many biographies of the man, and I was shocked to find that many second-hand truths fine biographers have relied on in prior biographies are incorrect. Knight's meticulous scholarship, his lifetime of study of the age of fighting sail in Britain and France, means that his careful analysis of sources in this book is stunning and irrefutable. No book I have ever read on Nelson is so thorough in finding every possible source to illuminate the daily life at sea, as well as by land, of this remarkable leader. That he quietly sets the record straight on innumerable myths and errors of past biographies with grace is simply another pleasure of the book. The fact that Knight deals tautly with the fairly disastrous consequences of Nelson's affair with Emma, Lady Hamilton, without letting it swallow his book, is a fine achievement. The heart of Nelson's importance in English history lies in his life at sea, and there Knight's study is especially enlightening.

Although not a book for everyone - you need to want to learn about both Nelson and the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars - I tend to agree with the dust jacket blurb, that this book will be THE definitive factual study of Nelson. But as Knight himself admits - in the end, the whole of the man is greater than the sum of his parts, and probably always will be.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An interesting biography, December 16, 2005

By 

1. "John Henninger" (Littleton, CO United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson (Hardcover)

Knight has written an interesting biography of Nelson in which he dispels several myths about Nelson. Knight writes that Nelson was not as religious as was previously mentioned and thought religion was only useful in maintaning dicipline. Also Knight writes that Nelson was not a benign leader and used the lash freqeuntly in his later career. Plus the atrocities committed at Naples had to do with Nelson's unfounded devotion to the Neopolitan crown. However Nelson was successful in that he used the latest technology such as the improved iron cannon and the carronade to close with enemy vessals and consulted with his captians over a course of action before every battle. The only weakness of this book is that the sections about his early life do not compare with John Sugden's work. Otherwise this book is a readable and concise biography of Nelson.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Nelson Biography, May 2, 2006

By 

Jeff Peirce (Salt Lake City, Utah United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson (Hardcover)

There is no shortage of books about Nelson. The past couple of years have added several more titles. There is no shortage of interest in the man, and the great days of the Royal Navy.

This book is very good--I doubt there are any better. It is detailed, full of new information, and extremely readable. The man can write, and the book carries you away.

Nelson is presented as a man with some great abilities-- and some faults. He did not always distinguish himself, but he never made any fatal blunders. It is interesting to note that he, too, was able to benefit from connections--something that was almost impossible to get along without in the Royal Navy, with so many officers, and so few ships.

Nelson's faults did cost him, but his strengths and abilities overcame them. He was lucky. His ability to ignore orders helped him, when it would have hurt others. His connections carried him through other difficulties, and , in the end, he was the right man at the right time.

As is usual, the reader also comes to appreciate his great friend Collingwood. If Nelson had a secret weapon, it had to be Collingwood, who was less impetuous, and more reasoned in his actions. His behavior and skill helped Nelson more than a few times. This book, like so many others, makes it obvious.

Nelson will always fascinate--his affair with Lady Hamilton, his bravery in battle, his fearless method of attack, and his brilliance always appeal to new generations. A great story about a great man.