Product Description

There have been numerous biographies of Nelson, but most fail to penetrate the mythology encrusting Britain's greatest naval hero. John Sugden has examined thousands of naval, military, diplomatic, and personal documents. He has ruthlessly stripped away the legends and brilliantly reconstructed Nelson's private and public life. "Nelson: A Dream of Glory" charts the period of Nelson's career most neglected by earlier writers - from childhood to his debut as a public hero after the breathtaking victory against the Spanish fleet at Cape St Vincent, when he became an admiral and stood on the verge of international fame. Dealing with every facet of Nelson's life - the man, the naval officer, and the Georgian - John Sugden offers the only full account of Nelson's early voyages and the first complete analysis of the formative incidents in his career, including his conflict with civil and naval superiors in the West Indies, his campaigns in Corsica, and his service as a commodore in the Mediterranean. Throughout, there are revealing discoveries about his relationships with his family, patrons, officers and also, with his women. "Nelson: A Dream of Glory" combines ground-breaking scholarship with a vivid and compelling style. This magisterial biography will immediately become the benchmark against which all subsequent books about Nelson will have to be judged.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #261579 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 960 pages

AMAZON.CO.UK
Described as the definitive biography, volume 1 of John Sugden’s Nelson is the fruit of over a decade’s research and, at nearly 800 pages long, represents the most comprehensive and detailed account of Nelson’s early years. Modern English folk might well have been saddened when the news broke that Princess Diana died or when John Lennon was assassinated but it is difficult to imagine the depth of national grief and pride occasioned at the news of Nelson’s demise. At the time of his death in 1805 he was seen as the very epitome of the greatness of Britain, a founder of its security and worldwide influence. What makes Sugden’s biography so authoritative is that having familiarized himself with all other previous accounts his research draws upon thousands of previously unseen letters and documents which in turn has enabled him to strip away many enduring misconceptions and embellishments that have attached themselves to the Nelson story. At the same time Sugden is not simply covering old ground since his account traces the least familiar period of Nelson’s life from childhood to the brink of international fame in 1797.

Granted that Sugden’s scholarship is first-class it still remains to say that he manages to turn the wealth of facts at his disposal into a smooth-flowing, accessible narrative. We learn about Nelson’s apprenticeship and his development into a decisive, ambitious, courageous young admiral and the personal qualities that gained him the trust, love and loyalty of the men who followed him. Much of the book deals with the day to day detail of life on board ship and with the skirmishes and battles-- on both land and sea-- that built Nelson’s reputation. Sugden does a wonderful job of explaining the reasons for Nelson’s success—chiefly his early recognition that the skilled efficiency of British seamanship was superior to that of her enemies. That meant that individual ships, and the British fleet in general, could break with the established rules of engagement, take more chances and ultimately gain spectacular victories against much larger and stronger foes. If one were to be picky the one minor drawback with the book is that with the main focus upon the events in Nelson’s life it is hard to understand how the navy was organized and managed and difficult to see Nelson’s life in the broader context of the history of the British Navy. Fortunately NAM Rodger’s The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815 perfectly answers the call.

By the time the narrative comes to an end the relatively young admiral, with his reputation secure but still hungry for glory, is effectively blind in one eye, lacking a right arm and brooding on the dismal prospect of retirement. We have to wait for the completion of volume two for the full account of his last few great years at the forefront of the European war. --Larry Brown

Review
"'One can say with confidence that this monumental tome is the finest yet written on England's great naval hero.... Sugden's brilliant book is chock-full of fascinating details. And if the second volume turns out as well as this, his life of Nelson will be one of the historical masterpieces of our time.' Frank McLynn, Daily Express 'Nelson's early life has been neglected by biographers, but Sugden has patiently reconstructed the early years... Sugden's account of Nelson's battles is richly absorbing, and his fluent, buoyant prose scuds along, carrying the reader with it. This must surely become a standard life.' Jane Ridley, Spectator 'Sugden's epic work is a masterpiece of the biographer's art... Sugden has written a book that will be the yardstick by which all other Nelson biographies will be judged for decades to come. The flagship of the fleet, it leaves all others trailing in its wake.' Neil Hanson, Sunday Times"

Brian Morton, Sunday Herald
It takes a biographer of Sugden's patience and scruples to separate reality from invention.

Customer Reviews

Very good
I read Joel Hayward's "For God and Glory" and thought it was certainly the best recent book on Nelson. I still think that, although it now has a competitor: "Nelson: A Dream of Glory", which is also quite excellent!

The Definitive Biography on Admiral Horatio Nelson Part I
John Sugden's "Nelson: A Dream of Glory 1758 - 1797" is the first volume of what promises to be a two volume definitive biography on the life and career of Vice Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, the greatest admiral in the history of Western Civilization. Not only is Sugden's tome impeccably well-researched, but his prose is often as fine as Patrick O'Brian's, giving readers a compelling view of the late 18th Century Royal Navy and the wars against France as seen not only through Nelson's eyes, but indeed those of many of his friends, acquaintances, and subordinates, including sailors from the lower decks. This is quite simply the finest nonfiction book on the Royal Navy that I have read; without question, it is a far better written and researched book than Arthur Herman's recently published "To Rule the Waves", his one volume history of the Royal Navy. I wait eagerly for Sugden's second volume, which will show Nelson's genius for battle during his celebrated victories at Aboukir Bay and, of course, Trafalgar.

Sugden offers a compelling portrait of a man who was more often a sinner rather than a saint, yet still heavily revered and regarded by his subordinates and superiors such as Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and Admiral Sir John Jervis, the Earl of Saint Vincent. Sugden demonstrates how this son of an impoverished parson was able to use his important familial ties to such distinguished British families as the Walpoles in obtaining and then furthering his career in the Royal Navy, going to sea at a relatively young age as an unrated servant aboard his uncle Captain Maurice Suckling's ship. But thanks to his uncle's connections, Nelson soon mastered the skills of navigation - becoming an excellent navigator in his own right - and joins a little known Polar expedition sponsored by the Royal Navy. In the short span of slightly more than a decade, Nelson acquired extensive experience sailing in the West Indies, Arctic waters and of course, off the coasts of Great Britain and France, before assuming his first post-captain command just barely out of his teens, a frigate, during the latter years of the American Revolution.

Sugden demonstrates repeatedly the complexity of Nelson's character. He notes often how Nelson repeatedly tried to advance the careers of his subordinates, including sailors as well as commissioned officers, frequently making his case to the Admiralty Board itself by going above the heads of his superiors such as senior captains and admirals. Despite this, Nelson earned the respect and friendship of senior admirals such as Sir Samuel Hood, and especially, Sir John Jervis (Sugden notes that Jervis rebuked his flag captain, Robert Calder, for daring to criticize Nelson after Nelson's deliberate failure in obeying Jervis's order during the Battle of Cape of Saint Vincent, by noting that he would praise Calder too if Calder had disobeyed Jervis's order.). And yet Nelson was praised for his generosity towards his commanding officers and subordinates, he was also, in many respects, a rather vain, selfish person, interested in pursuing glory for its own sake; a character flaw which would lead eventually to his scandalous affair with Lady Emma Hamilton. While seeking favors from those who were his superiors in military rank and/or social status, Nelson would be blind occasionaly to their own failings, which Sugden emphasizes in Nelson's relationship with Prince William Henry, the future King William IV, while the latter was a junior frigate captain serving under Nelson's command in the West Indies.

Sugden also describes, at much length, Nelson's relationships with his "band of brothers", forming life-long friendships with fellow distinguished officers such as Rear Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, Captain Thomas Troubridge, Captain Ralph Willett Miller, and Captain Benjamin Hallowell, to name merely a few, and his immense admiration and affection for the officers and crew of HMS Agamemnon, the 64 gun third rate ship-of-the-line which he regarded as his favorite command. Sugden devotes ample space not only to Nelson's service during the American Revolution - most notably his distinguished service in Central America - and the Battle of Cape Saint Vincent, but more importantly, to lesser known aspects of his career as a young senior captain stationed in the West Indies immediately after the American Revolution and his amphibious campaigns on Corsica and Elba during the early phases of the wars against Revolutionary France in the 1790s. Here we get a good glimpse of Nelson's brilliance as a commander leading men both at sea and ashore, but also his failings, most notably during the aborted raid on the Canary Islands that left him seriously wounded, nearly bringing his Royal Navy career to an untimely end in 1797.

Simply stupendous
I cannot praise this work too highly. So many biographies of Nelson simply rehash old stories without examining their authenticity. John Sugden not only re-assesses well known stories, but has examined hitherto unstudied primary sources to flesh out further the life and character of a man of whom, it seemed, there was nothing new to be said. Sugden is clearly sympathetic to Nelson. His greatness, his humanity, his leadership and his courage are all honoured in this book, but due weight is also given to his flaws, his failures and his weaknesses. All John Sugden's judgements are authoritative, considered and fair. The detail is breathtaking and the fascinating digressions into many aspects of Georgian naval life and into peripheral characters are woven with great skill into an enthralling biography that never loses its narrative thrust. I was devouring this huge, engrossing tome at too fast a rate and I didn't want it to end, so I rationed my reading time and made myself savour this marvellous work slowly. As I read the last page, which ends with Nelson's failure at Santa Cruz and the loss of his arm, I felt cut adrift! Please, please Mr Sugden, hurry up with Volume 2!