Nelson: The Essential Hero

As a naval commander he was an inspiring hero, honored to this very day as the essence of bravery. In his private life, he was a cad, conducting a scandalous openly adulterous affair with Lady Emma Hamilton and humiliating her cuckold husband. In victories at sea and in the boudoir, Horatio Nelson was an indomitable conqueror and deserving of his immortal reputation. He was the sworn enemy of Napoleon and the French, and considered himself a failure if a single enemy ship escaped destruction. His strategies to achieve this end are still studied and marveled at. Bradford brilliantly recounts the events of Nelson’s life and details the naval warfare of this thrilling period in British history.