Life of Nelson

The most celebrated naval hero in British history, told by one of the Romantic era's greatest poets. Horatio Nelson was a captain by sixteen, a commodore by twenty-eight, and dead at forty-seven - cut down in the moment of his greatest triumph. At the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, his fleet demolished the combined French and Spanish navies, securing Britain's naval supremacy for a century. Nelson went down with his ship, the Victory, but not before issuing the signal that would echo through English history: "England expects that every man will do his duty." Robert Southey, newly appointed Poet Laureate, wrote this biography as a manual for young sailors - a book they could carry to sea and memorize. What he produced instead was something far more enduring: a vivid, propulsive narrative that treats Nelson's life as a kind of epic, full of daring battles, political intrigue, and the particular brilliance of a man who seemed to win through impossible odds. It captures the naval warfare that made Britain mistress of the seas, and the man whose courage and charisma made him beloved above all others.