Customer Reviews

Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and Nelson's Battle of Trafalgar

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Seize this book! It is fascinating and so well written. It is not just a description of the battle. The reader learns so much about the history and culture of England, France and Spain and also about the psychology of men who go to battle. Nicolson is an excellent writer!

For anyone who loves 'Master and Commander' or 'Hornblower' with their tales of heroism on the high seas, this is a must buy. Unlike other naval history books, this one delves into the psychological makeup of the men who became heroes at Trafalgar. Revealing the strange, heady mixture of millennial, end of the world violence, love, humanity and duty, this book is full of the authentic voices of the time and reads like an adventure. If only all history was this enticing!

Review by Alex Beecroft, author of Captain's Surrender

Real human history is not only stranger than fiction. It can also be made to read better than fiction. Writers of real history surround their readers with a sense of how people thought and acted in the era they write about, and how different that can be from modern ways of thinking. Real historians make history exciting. Adam Nicolson is a real historian. "Seize the Fire" is exciting and genuine history.

Book is a pretty good History on The Famous Battle Of Trafalgar, The Battle Of the Brits Vs. The Spaniards and The French, I feel though the book might be a little biased and at times tooting the horn too much of the British so to speak, The Author Slams the Spaniards/Catholic Spain as If Protestant England Was Something wonderful. (Of Course he wrote God's Secretaries , of that "Great" story of the KJV-Great if you like your pick and choose variety of Christianity) The Author examines the Ships and weapons used by The people involved. and Gives almost all the credit to The British(who as he admitted copied the French alot) Although, I am not of Spaniard Descent **barely**but I am Catholic. I Feel the Author's Stinging criticism of my Ancestors(I am Cuban-American).also he mentions Spain Was Behind Everybody at the time, and the Great British(The Same place of the Puritans and King Henry) were so advanced, which I would have to disagree with some matters.Also Throws around Class Structures and Capitalism as if it were a bad thing. The book reads pretty good besides the Author's Praises for his fellow Brits.

This book is about the Heroism, Zeal, and Duty of a maritime officer. Adam Nicolson describes much of the battle of Trafalgar and Some of Lord Nelson but, for the most part it is a breakdown of the philosophies and understanding of the relationship of Naval Officers, their seamen, and the opposition. Adan Nicolson puts you right in the minds of Nelson's captains, as well as the thoughts of the captains and sailors of the combined fleet(French and Spanish at Trafalgar) but this is not a book about Nelson's life or a book about Trafalgar(in layman's terms). When you read this book, be used to Naval and some Old English Terminology or it may be a little difficult to follow along; but overall it is a great read, and simply packed with information, Adam Nicolson really did his homework to find all of the information in this book.

A well researched and detailed book. I had to quit about 2/3 of the way thru because I could just not take another endlessly wordy and philosophical analysis of personal and cultural motivations.
I realize this is part of the point but the same thing could have been accomplished with 1/2 the text.