Naval books on Admiral Lord Nelson and Nelson's naval battles including the Battle of Trafalgar, Battle of the Nile and Copenhagen by leading naval book publishers and naval authors.

Nelson and the Nile, The Naval War against Bonaparte 1798, by Brian Lavery.

The Battle of the Nile, fought on 1st August 1798, was Nelsons first great victory and dealt a fatal blow to Napoleon Bonapartes ambitions in the Middle East.  But the battle itself was only the decisive event in a campaign of many months, upon the outcome of which depended the domination of the Mediterranean and the whole strategic situation in Europe.  In this book, Brian Lavery places the Battle of the Nile in its full strategic context, showing the interplay of military and political factors that sent Nelsons squadron into the Mediterranean in pursuit of the powerful French invasion fleet.  This was also Nelsons first independent fleet command, and the author shows the development of his command style and the forging of the esprit de corps which was later to triumph at Trafalgar.  It also provides a fascinating and detailed insight into the nature and conditions of naval war in the Age of Sail, from the strain felt by fleet commanders, isolated from higher authority and starved of information of the enemy, to the daily lives of the sailors and the tactics used in battle.  

Hardback book with 318 pages.

Order number BK0401. Book price £25.00.

Nelson's War by Peter Padfield

Between 1793 and 1805 Britain fought a series of naval battles against the new French Republic. This period of almost unrelieved blockade and battle culminating in Trafalgar, which gained for Britain what later historians were to call 'The Empire of the Seas', can now be viewed as one of the great turning points in history. Horatio Nelson, slight in physique, audacious and commanding in character, and truly a legend in his own lifetime, dominated the period.

Peter Padfield throws new and controversial light on the battle tactics of the famous actions at Camperdown, the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar to show just how unconventional they were.

Book serial number W39. Price £7.99. Fully illustrated paperback with 198 pages.

Post: UK- £3.00 (max post for multiple books £6.00).

For Europe £4.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Nelson: The Essential Hero by Ernle Bradford

Horatio Nelson is one of the most inspiring and perplexing characters in 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 Ernle Bradford, himself a naval man who, under sail, has navigated most of the seas that Nelson knew, reads like a thriller.

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 ship-to-ship bombardments, the terrifying injuries caused by flying splinters as well as 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.

This fascinating study will always rank high among the many biographies of Britain's essential hero.

Post: UK- £3.00 (max post for multiple books £6.00).

For Europe £4.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Rest of World £6.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

The Frigates by James Henderson

Light, swift, daring: frigates were the cruisers of Nelson's navy, commanded by bold, young, courageous officers, ranging the oceans of the world alone or in packs, seeking the enemy - and usually finding him. Although the swashbuckling spirit of these incredible sea adventures has been captured in the best naval fiction, the story of the frigates of 1793-1815 has never been told as a continuous narrative.

James Henderson's vivid writing has the reader pacing the quarterdeck with the first lieutenant, or muzzle-loading on the smoky gundeck of a 44 - and his descriptions of frigate and naval technicalities make it easy for the reader to asses such famous actions as the encounter, by challenge, between HMS Shannon and (of equal power) USS Chesapeake, which was captured by boarding after fifteen furious minutes.

Book serial number W20. Price £4.99. Fully illustrated paperback with 192 pages.

Post: UK- £3.00 (max post for multiple books £6.00).

For Europe £4.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)

Horatio Nelson by Tom Pocock

Horatio Nelson: the national hero who secured a century of maritime supremacy for his country and became the focus of British identity and aspirations. Generous and brave, sometimes vain and occasionally weak, he is still the butt of half-admiring jokes: bawdy when his name is coupled with that of Emma Hamilton; respectful in relation to his great naval achievements.

Tom Pocock's Horatio Nelson is the first biography of the admiral to include a significant and hitherto unpublished account of Nelson's plans for a new career in politics. It is the first full biography to unveil detailed descriptions of his adventures on an expedition to the Arctic as a boy, his exploits in the Nicaraguan jungle as a young captain, his love for an older officer's pretty and sophisticated young wife in the West Indies and his defence in court of one of his men on a murder charge and of an old friend charged with treason and plotting the murder of the King. Including an appendix of existing Nelsonian sites in addition to many photographs and quotations from letters unpublished until now, this biography also grants us an intimate glimpse, seen through the eyes of Nelson's young niece, of life with Nelson and the Hamilton's at Merton Place, the home they shared.

The most revealing study yet written, this biography juxtaposes details of Nelson's daily life, friendships and opinions with the great events which make him one of the best loved and most memorable figures in British history.

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Book serial number BK38. Price £20.00. Hard back with 364 pages.

Post: UK- £6.00 (max post for multiple books £6.00).

For Europe £7.00 (each plus one charge of £3.00 recorded fee per total shipment)