Nelson: The Essential Hero

By Ernle Bradford

Just as the Battle of the Nile had occurred at a moment when the nation's spirits were at a low ebb as it faced the new Napoleonic Europe and the threat to India, so Trafalgar put fresh heart into a Britain that was confronted by disaster upon the Continent. Napoleon's forces had overwhelmed the Austrians at Ulm. The Third Coalition was shattered, and once more Britain faced the land mass of Europe totally dominated by the Corsican genius. 

Horatio Nelson is one of the most inspiring and perplexing characters in British history. He carried inside him a mixture of sheer professionalism and genius, of vanity and courage, of dedication to sacrifice despite his human weaknesses.

This brilliant biography by Ernie Bradford, himself a military historian and sailor who navigated most of the seas that Nelson knew, reads like a thriller. The narrative is full of characters who are daring in the name of king and country, and who man the English vessels against the enemy French.

Naval warfare of the period, and Nelson's battles in particular, are shown in vivid detail; the author describes the strategies, the tactics, the ponderous bombardments and the terrifying injuries caused by flying splinters. The author also details Nelson's policy of annihilation of the opposing fleet, making the point that Nelson regarded the escape of a single enemy ship as a failure.

Ernle Bradford (1922-1986) was an historian who wrote books on naval battles and historical figures. Among his subjects were Lord Nelson, the Mary Rose, Christopher Columbus, Julius Caesar and Hannibal. He also documented his own voyages on the Mediterranean Sea.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Endeavour Media
• Release date: Jun 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386960102

Ernle Bradford

Ernle Bradford was born in 1922 and died in 1986. He was a noted British historian specializing in the Mediterranean world and naval topics. Bradford was an enthusiastic sailor himself and spent almost thirty years sailing the Mediterranean, where many of his books are set. He served in the Royal Navy during World War II, finishing as the first lieutenant of a destroyer. Bradford lived in Malta for a number of years. He did occasional broadcast work for the BBC, was a magazine editor, and wrote many books, including Hannibal, Paul the Traveller, Julius Caesar: The Pursuit of Power, Christopher Columbus, and The Mighty Hood.