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The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson

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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.

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.

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.

Noted Nelson scholar Roger Knight has written an elegant biography of Great Britain's greatest fighting admiral, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, which was published shortly after the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar; both Nelson's greatest victory and the scene of his tragic, yet heroic, death. But is it the definitive biography devoted to Admiral Nelson's life and career? Although it does come close, regrettably, the answer is "no", since another eminent Nelson scholar, John Sugden, is currently at work on the second volume of his Nelson biography, which will cover Nelson's exploits from late 1797 to the Battle of Traflagar, which occurred on October 21, 1805 (This review is being published here at Amazon.com one day prior to the 201st anniversary of this battle.).

Knight covers Nelson's life and career in a massive tome of more than 800 pages, breaking it down into five sections. Much to my amazement, Knight has successfully covered Nelson's life and career from his birth in 1758 to his appointment as captain of HMS Agamemnon in January, 1793 in slightly more than a hundred pages, "I Youth and Disappointment 1758-1793" (Readers who think they are missing important aspects of Nelson's career should turn instead to the first volume in John Sugden's Nelson biography, "Nelson: A Dream of Glory", which emphasizes the young Nelson's rapid rise through officer ranks to becoming among the Royal Navy's youngest post captains.). Here Knight demonstrates how Nelson relied upon patronage from well-connected relatives like his uncle Captain Maurice Suckling and substantial exposure to good seamanship and officer conduct, which allowed him to secure rapid promotion to Post Captain and command of a frigate during the American Revolution. We also get our first glimpse of the heroic Nelson through his participation in an ill-fated joint Royal Navy and Army invasion to seize Nicaragua from the Spanish, which will not only cost him his command of a heavily armored frigate, but also his good health, and indeed, almost his life. Knight covers succinctly Nelson's two tours of duty in the British West Indies, devoting substantial coverage to Nelson's adulation of the mediocre Prince William Henry, later, Duke of Clarence, and eventually, King William IV, assigned to Nelson's command as a junior Royal Navy frigate captain (Here we see Nelson's unabashed admiration for royalty emerge unexpectedly, which will have serious consequences for his career in the late 1790s.).

The biography's second section, "II Maturation and Triumph 1793 - 1798" covers Nelson's early career during the French revolutionary wars, chronicling his eventual rise to Rear Admiral and his hard-fought victories at the battles of Cape Saint Vincent and the Nile. Nelson learns how to command a squadron at sea, cultivating friendships with many of the Royal Navy officers who would become his celebrated "Band of Brothers"; distinguished captains such as Thomas Troubridge, Samuel Hood, Benjamin Hallowell and Thomas Masterman Hardy. Knight also discusses Nelson's complex relationships with his superiors, most notably Admiral Sir John Jervis, later Earl Saint Vincent, his commanding officer at the Battle of Cape Saint Vincent. We also witness the disastrous attack on Tenerife, Santa Cruz, in the Canary Islands, which nearly costs him his life.

The biography's third section, "III Passion and Discredit 1798- 1801", is devoted to the most controversial period of Nelson's career; his service as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, in which he finds himself supporting unabashedly the Bourbon royal dynasty of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Knight demonstrates clearly that Nelson's actions in "liberating" Naples following a French-supported popular insurrection, were motivated solely by his notions of loyalty and duty to a royal family in dire need of both, and though quite critical of them, he does not agree with Terry Coleman, author of "The Nelson Touch: The Life and Legend of Horatio Nelson", that these acts amounted to war crimes. Moreover, he demolishes completely the myth that Nelson fell immediately in love with Emma Hamilton, the young wife of Britain's ambassador to the Bourbon court at Naples, showing that it blossomed months later. And Knight, while sympathetic to Nelson, does show that Nelson's actions immediately before and after the Battle of Copenhagen, left much to be desired for someone serving as a fleet commander.

In "IV Adulation and Death" Knight opens with Nelson, now living openly with Emma Hamilton, enjoying nearly 18 months of peace, finding time to take a leisurely journey through Wales and serving in the House of Lords. With the resumption of hostilities between Great Britain and Napoleonic France, Nelson, now a vice admiral, returns to the Mediterranean Sea as the Royal Navy's Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, hoisting his broad pendant aboard HMS Victory. Some of Knight's finest prose is devoted to the long chase across the Atlantic Ocean to the West Indies in search of French admiral Pierre Villeneuve's fleet, culminating of course in the bloody Battle of Trafalgar. In "V Transfiguration", Knight describes not only Nelson's funeral in London, but also takes stock of the admiral's character, yielding a sympathetic, yet highly nuanced, appraisal of Nelson's life and career.

"The Pursuit of Victory: The Life And Achievement of Horatio Nelson" includes several appendices, of which the most important ones are the brief chronologies of the major events in Nelson's life and career, and of world events during Nelson's life, especially with regard to the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. There is also a chronological recounting of Nelson's service aboard various Royal Navy warships, which, regrettably, isn't nearly as succinct as both chronological outlines. Less successful, but still quite useful, are the brief biographical sketches devoted to Nelson's family, friends, and associates, both in the British government, and of course, in the Royal Navy itself.

If you enjoyed John Sugden's "Nelson: A Dream of Glory," but are tired of waiting for the second volume, pick up this book for the rest of the story. Knight is as good as Sugden, and their styles are very similar.

'Definitive' is a big word but it really is hard to see how anyone can do btter than this. Here, in one generous volume (I am not a fan of two-volume works that make you wait ages for Part Two!) is a marvellous new 'take' on the familar story, clearly based on all the new material that has been emerging on Nelson lately.

Loads of good illustrations, some excellent, easy-to-follow plans and some generous appendices and notes that demonstrate the depth of scholarship on which the author's excellent narrative is based.

This one ought to be winning all the history book prizes!

My interest in Nelson stems from an interest in his flagship at Trafalgar the HMS Victory. I developed this interest in my early teens at a time when the country I was living in was going through massive changes. One of the things I learned during this time was that the truth is often hard to come by when studying history particularly when you are living it. What I thought was truth turned out not to be so true and at the same time lies abounded from the other side. When it comes to the life of Nelson I have read much and although my interest today is still the Victory I decided to find a decent biography of Nelson to add to my library. Roger Knight has, in my opinion, told the truth about Nelson in the most complete way I have ever come across in a very easy to read style and backed up by a prolific bibliography. Two thirds of the book is the biography of Nelson and the rest consists of a chronology of Nelson's life, notes on the people in his life, notes about the ships he sailed in and a glossary. Roger Knight dispels some of the myths that have grown up about Nelson but does not detract from the outstanding leader of men that Nelson was. Nelson's failings are not glossed over in favor of his greatness as some have tended to do. Knight has not belittled Nelson to the point of saying that the battle of Trafalgar was nearly lost because of his vanity. Nelson was human like the rest of us, and this book shows the life of a true leader who overcame his weaknesses be they moral, personal or physical to rise above the norm and excel. This book was written to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and is, as far as I am concerned, the most balanced story of the life of Nelson there is.

I highly recommend The Pursuit of Victory: The Life And Achievement of Horatio Nelson, a new biography of England's greatest warfighting admiral, Horatio Nelson.

This biography does a superb job of providing context and background for Nelson's astonishing rise to fame and his equally astonishing victories at sea--and lesser known defeats, which always occurred on territory unfamilar to Nelson, i.e. land. We find that the extreme risks of Britain's war with Napoleonic France created a brief window of opportunity for commoners such as Nelson to rise within the class-conscious and peerage-dominated Admiralty. Merit was so essential to victory that the Admiralty could not afford to advance captains by favoritism alone.

Equally interesting is the author's careful descriptions of the role of mentors in Nelson's career arc--captains and admirals above him in the bureaucratic Royal Navy who guided, aided and promoted him, not so much to benefit themselves but in recognition of his talents. Without these mentors--several of whom he maintained as close personal friends until death--his rise from the ranks of hundreds of junior captains to admiral at a young age would not have happened.

Not that Nelson enjoyed a perfect career. A gross political miscalculation--falling under the influence of the King's ne'er do well son, who had been given a position as Admiral not on talent but on birthright--caused Nelson's career to falter at a critical juncture. Having fallen out of favor for his destructive sycophancy, Nelson was sent home without a command, where he languished for seven long years as a poor gentleman landowner.

A renewal of the war with France gave him one more chance, and with the aid of his mentors, he assumed command of the Mediterranean Fleet (bypassing many jealous senior admirals), enabling him to score his first great strategic victory in the Battle of the Nile.

Life at sea was not easy, and Nelson was often ill and exhausted. Having lost an eye and an arm in two land engagements (he was deployed twice to joint Army-Navy commands, both of which ended badly, partly due to Nelson's ignorance of land warfare), he was often in pain. he also had to make judicious political decisions regarding allies, harrass the Admiralty for supplies, maintain discipline on a huge fleet of wooden ships in poor weather, and a host of other challenges which would have ground down by sheer workload alone a lesser commander.

This engaging, masterly paced work covers not just Nelson's life but the political context of the Royal Navy and the role of senior commanders in his rise to the highest levels of command. It is a portrait of one man's life set within a detailed account of his family, era, superiors and comrades.

I have been enjoying this Christmas present, though I am only part way through -- a massive tome. However, I was startled to find at least one major problem in the printing, with several pages dropped and replaced by duplicates of others in the signature following the last set of plates (pp. 637 ff.). Another copy showed the same problem, so it is not just mine. Clearly, whoever was supposed to check imposition was asleep at the switch -- or maybe like that guy in the movie Elf he hoped no one would notice the missing pages. Some publishers would re-print rather than allow this sort of mistake to hit the stores

Later addition: I now hear the printer is reprinting the run -- no small task. Meanwhile, I continue to read and enjoy the book. It was a gift from someone who knows I periodically re-read the Patrick O'Brian novels, and the interplay between historical fact and fiction is fun.

This 800-plus page book, painstakingly put together by its author is one of the worst copy-edited books I have ever seen. Additionally its binding is cheap and flimsy. There is no pagination of the charts it includes and the biographical sketches that could clarify much of the text are hopelessly out of order. It is another demonstration that slovenliness in publishing is acceptable.