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| Nelson: Britannia's God of War | 
 enlarge | Author: Andrew D. Lambert
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
Buy New: £0.01
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 97312
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 356
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 1.4
ISBN: 0571212271
Dewey Decimal Number: 941
EAN: 9780571212279
ASIN: 0571212271
Publication Date: July 7, 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Excellent book on naval hero July 24, 2008
I recently visited Portsmouth Historic Naval Dockyard and was fascinated in particular by HMS Victory - Nelson's flagship. In the dockyard bookshop I bought Andrew Lambert's Nelson: Britannia's God of War. This book is described as a "thrilling new appraisal of Horatio Nelson". I haven't read any previous books about Nelson, so I can't vouch for the "new" part of this, but it is definitely a "thrilling" read. Nelson is most famous for the Battle of Trafalgar and the manner in which he died - but there was more to him than Trafalgar.
Lambert expertly describes Nelson's early life without going into too much detail. The book deliberately avoids going into too much detail about his private life and there is little detail about his wife or mistress other than references to his letters. The book concentrates on Nelson as a navy man - how he lead from the front, was fearless, devoted to his God, and certain of his own abilities. The descriptions of naval battles and Nelson's activities ashore are well done - again without too much detail to overload readers who are not looking for in-depth descriptions.
There is no doubt that Nelson was (and still is) a hero to many generations of British people. It is very obvious that Nelson is very much a hero to Lambert, who defends him and his actions almost without question. For him, Nelson could do no wrong. Much of the book is taken up with events after Nelson died (page 307 of 446 in the book) and how he has been interpreted since.
One can't help be inspired by the dedication to duty, leadership qualities, and professionalism of Nelson. Lambert captures the essence of this expertly and leaves the reader with a sense of awe at how one man could be so complete. Had he survived Trafalgar, I'm sure that he could have had a long career in politics like the Duke of Wellington (they once met briefly). There are descriptions of other books written about Nelson and while this is good as a reference point and for analysing the legacy of Nelson - I feel that this is overdone a little. Definitely overdone are the descriptions of paintings and monuments to Nelson - without pictures or drawings in the text, these are mostly meaningless unless you have seen them separately. While some are reproduced in the centre section, others should have been included for the reader unfamiliar with them. Perhaps there were cost reasons for omitting them.
While I really enjoyed reading this book, it does assume that the reader already possesses a lot of knowledge about people and events in Europe during this period of history. There are several duplications (we are told twice about the IRA blowing up the Pillar in Dublin in 1966), and annoying introduction of irrelevant material. For example, the reference on page 332 to Captain Pell having "lost his leg in battle" comes out of the blue - who is Captain Pell, he was not mentioned before or after this section. I suspect sloppy editorial work here.
Overall, a very worthwhile read that makes the reader want to know more about Nelson and the events of the late 18th and early 19th century.
Nelson researched December 15, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is written by a naval historian and this is both its strength and weakness. The book charts the career of Nelson chronologically by major battle and is heavy on the detail of each, including the position of every participating ship it seems. Major conflicts in the Nile, Naples and the Mediterranean, Copenhagen and of course Trafalgar are covered.
The book is excellently researched and tries to shift the focus away from titbits of Nelson's personal life to bring him back to his position of one of the greatest war strategists Britain has ever had. The risk of this approach is that the book is at times heavy going and somewhat tedious, unless you have a strong interest in British naval history. However, it does transmit the fragility of Britain and the reliance in that era on sea power.
The book also gives glimmers of the complex factors that made Nelson great. His family connections, which he used in the early part of his career in order to emerge from the pack; his self-publicising, making sure he was credited for his actions; his use of all the information available to him from navigation to a knowledge of his opponent; his ability to inspire complete commitment from his men, something which was a result of his evident commitment to them; his willingness to literally turn a blind eye to orders and act on initiative; his boldness; his underlying sense of duty and trust in God.
On balance I would have liked more of the significance of the battles in a wider context - we are never really told why Trafalgar was important for example - and more of the personal side of the man, which could surely have been gleaned from the extensive reference to Nelson's letters. This was in the end I felt a slightly idolised Nelson. Nevertheless a thorough grounding in the man's place in British history.
Nelson June 4, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is a good look at the life of Nelson. It focuses on his career, rather than his private life, although these aspect are explored. It also looks at his affect on British warfare and as an Icon of his age. I found it to be a little dry in places (Hence the 4 stars), but the battle scenes were genuinely exciting to read and it was fascinating to read about this national hero. Lambert has obviously done his research for this book, and overall the writing style is easy to read and enjoy. If you like this period of history, or want to learn more about Nelson's life then this is a pretty good starting place.
 A brilliant study of the ultimate British hero May 22, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Andrew Lambert's Nelson is a very readable and enjoyable book. It is detailed without going to far and becoming boring, and also focuses more on Nelson the sailor than other biographies. It also puts him into context as an icon of Britain and how he has become one of a select group of the greatest heros Britain has produced. All in all an excellent book which is insightful and does not get bogged down in detail.
Nelson gets the Lambert Touch April 11, 2006
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is one of best biographies I've read, probably because it was written by a top naval historian with no axe to grind except to wrest Nelson from all the over-weighted nonsense that's been made of his affair with Emma Hamilton. Lambert doesn't ignore her: he puts her in context, and sets the record straight on Britain's strategic need for his aiding the King of Naples rather than for any love of Emma.Lambert does not shy of criticising Nelson's own self-advertising, hypochondria and psychosomatic illnesses, or how he got an early leg up in his career more by patronage than his later claims of it being solely his own hard work and ability. By including all this within the setting of the changing nature of warfare, and the political history and strategic and personal correspondences and so on, Lambert provides a well rounded biography of Nelson and why he is one of this country's greatest heroes.
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