Nelson the Commander

This analysis of Nelson's campaigns and battles is the first by a professional naval officer since that of Admiral Mahan in 1897. The author sets Nelson's failures at Tenerife and Boulogne against his triumphs at Cape St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar. He also examines Nelson's passion for Emma Hamilton and its consequences--the judicial murder of Caracciolo and such a flagrant disregard for orders that he was made to strike his flag.