Nelson: The Sword of Albion

Description

Undoubtedly the most comprehensive and intimate biography of Nelson ever written, The Sword of Albion encompasses the high dramas of the Battles of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar. The Sword of Albion concludes the most comprehensive and intimate life of Nelson ever written, one that teems with a glittering array of sailors and civilians, heroes and villains, husbands, wives and lovers. Here are Nelson's famous victories at the battles of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar as well as his lesser-known yet equally gripping campaigns. But behind the military prowess is a man riven with paradoxes and schisms- the fighting admiral and the glory-hunter, the national hero and the indigent commoner, the family man and the adulterer. This is an epic, triumphant and tragic life, and a masterpiece of the biographer's art.

Dr John Sugden has pursued a busy career as a lecturer, senior research fellow and writer. He is the author of a series of acclaimed articles and books, including Sir Francis Drake, Tecumseh- A Life, which won the Distinguished Book Award of the American Society for Military History, and Blue Jacket, which won the Ohioana Award. His fascination with Nelson stems from childhood, and he decided to write a complete life of Nelson when he discovered large amounts of untapped material whilst completing his doctorate in naval and political history.

An absolutely excellent book. Every bit is beautifully judged -- William Leith * Evening Standard * Sweeping, thrilling and psychologically acute, this second volume in John Sugden's biography will hardly be bettered...this book is a monumental achievement. Some readers may be daunted by its length, but the investment of time and effort is unquestionably worth it... It is a tribute to Sugden's skill that as Nelson lies stricken below desks, gasping for air, blood pouring into his chest, his officers biting back the tears and Hardy desperately wringing his hand, you pray that somehow, against all sense and reason, England's greatest hero might just pull through -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times * The Last eight years of his [Nelson's] life dealt with in thrilling, monumental detail * Sunday Times * There isn't the slightest hint of modishness in Sugden's study, which not only has all the old-fashioned scholarly virtues but is also, in the time-honoured tradition of naval history, a thumping good read * Scotsman * John Sugden's utterly epic Nelson: The Sword of Albion is the longest, richest, most absorbing biography I've ever read... Sugden's book is of Tolstoyan dimensions -- Roger Lewis * Daily Mail *