Product Description

This is the story of the Bellerophon, a ship of the line known to her crew as the Billy Ruffian. Under fourteen captains, she played a conspicuous part in three of the most famous of all sea battles: the battle of the Glorious First of June (1794), the opening action against Revolutionary France; the battle of the Nile (1798), which halted Napoleon's eastern expansion from Cairo; and the battle of Trafalgar (1805), which established British naval supremacy for 100 years and during which her captain was shot dead with a musket ball an hour before Nelson was mortally wounded. But her crowning glory came six weeks after the Battle of Waterloo, when the Napoleon, trapped in La Rochelle, surrendered to the captain of the ship that had dogged his steps for more than twenty years.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #115445 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
'A thrilling narrative which brings engaging the enemy so alive that you smell the cordite of the guns and hear the splintering of mighty masts and spars' Independent 'A masterly account and, like all good biographies, says as much, if not more, about the historical context as about the subject itself' Sunday Times 'Richly entertaining and informative These resurrected log books, captains' letters and court martial reports give us a thrillingly up-close feeling for what it was like to live and fight through those tumultuous best of times and worst of times' Independent on Sunday 'Cordingly has unearthed a revealing study The account of Napoleon's brief incarceration on the ship in July 1815 is fascinating original and well-researched' Daily Telegraph

Daily Telegraph
‘Cordingly has unearthed a revealing study … fascinating … original and well-researched’

From the Publisher
Lavishly illustrated with paintings, sketches, maps and battle plans, and drawing on a wealth of primary sources and contemporary literature, David Cordingly's portrait of the 'Billy Ruffian' is an original work of popular history and a fascinating insight into the reality that lies behind C.S. Forester's and Patrick O'Brian's fictional ships and heroes.

Customer Reviews

Hoe to fall in love with a Ship
To set out to write a biography of a ship is to say the very least, daunting. But David Cordingly has carried it off with flair and grace. From the first chapter on he captures our attention with just enough background information and illustrations to define the subject into its place in history until we really start to care what this ship is all about. The ship, nicknamed Billy Ruffian, is a living, sentient being only changing character as the varied Captains; crews and visiting Admirals walk her decks culminating in the arrivals of both Nelson and Napoleon – at different times of course. Mr. Cordingly’s descriptions of battles and Bellerophon’s part in them are fascinating, from The Glorious First of June to the ultimate Battle of Trafalgar. But his insights into history such as – what would have happened if Nelson had caught Napoleon on board L’Orient on their way to Egypt – at one stage they were only six miles apart – had me dreaming for hours afterwards. To finish a book of this quality is always sad but one is uplifted by the thought of all those other Cordingly books that are still to be read – what a discovery.

Not just a Sea Story, thematic history excels
This is a remarkable book, previous reviews have said so and why. My brief contribution is this, see this book as more than a naval history, look at how the author has communicated. This is a sharp insight, and an academically solid commentary, on the Napoleonic War (actually covering the period from 1782 to 1836) blending facts and faces. In essence this is book about people and their lives. And it goes well beyond the Navy; providing a detailed appreciation of economics, politics, and society. It is not a lecture or technical treatise, just good prose.

There has been a significant growth in narrative history, well-written panoramic tales of events over long periods, info-tainment. This leads many of us on to academic histories, unfortunately much of which is exclusive and tedious. Increasingly they are commercially marketed for a wider readership beyond students preparing for examinations. Searching for credibility, the academic "pomposity" ratio now seems 2:1, two pages of text to one page of footnotes. Thank God Ikea bookshelves are strong enough to endure this burden.

Between history lite (narrative) and history dense (academic) Billy Ruffian might be termed "thematic" history employing a device - the ship - to organise and present a big slice of history. The analysis is subtle; the reader respected, it is easy to absorb a considerable amount of detail. As an aside, if you like this style of history writing, try Georges Blond "La Grande Armee"(a Napoleonic land warfare essential) or Sarah Wise "The Italian Boy" (early Victorian crime and society), you will not be disappointed.

Sadly many will pass by this book thinking it is just another sea yarn, Patrick O'Brien et al. How you get round that is difficult but if you know little about the Napoleonic War, or you know a good deal, there is a lot here. This is a clever book you could enjoy in the Reading Room of the British Library or on the beach. That's no mean achievement.

Bringing a Ship to Life
I found David Cordingly's book fascinating - a masterful tale of well known events but from a remarkably original and fresh angle: the perspective of a ship of the line and her crew from launch to breakers yard. Told with economy and with a clear focus on the ship Bellerophon, Cordingly's style enables you to enter into the extraordinary lives and events of his period, to emphathise with captains, ratings and even an ex-Emperor. The sections dealing with Napolen's surrender are just magificant - much of this was new to me. And beautifully illustrated.