Nelson: Hero of the Seas, by Dominic Sandbrook
On 24 September 1805, Admiral Horatio Nelson was waiting for an audience with Lord Castlereagh, Secretary for War and the Colonies, at the Colonial Office. In the assembly room with him was Sir Arthur Wellesley, who had recently returned from a successful campaign in India. Two of Britain’s finest military minds did not hit it off immediately. Nelson had a shyness that was expressed in vanity, and the famously reserved Wellesley was not impressed. However after briefly leaving to discover who this soldier was, Nelson returned whereupon he had a conversation which later was described by the now Duke of Wellington with, ‘I don’t know that I ever had a conversation that interested me more.’
This from a man not given to hyperbole. The enjoyable scene is recited in Dominic Sandbrook’s latest entry to his Adventures in Time series aimed at younger readers, and is perhaps his best yet. I say perhaps because his Alexander title is excellent and was devoured by my nephew. These books are important because they open up history to the young, warts and all. So, we get the battles, the devotion of his men and the glorious victory at Trafalgar, but we also learn of the Naples episode, Nelson’s mistreatment of his wife and the more contemporaneous accusations over imperialism, the last of which is swatted aside by Sandbrook with ease.
Undoubtedly Nelson was a remarkable individual, though not perfect, but who is? Having been a beneficiary of 18th and 19th century history for my A-Level it is with some sadness that this period is only viewed through the lens of slavery in schools today. Britain faced the very real prospect of invasion by the Corsican ogre, and we were at war with France for around twenty years. It was an era of flamboyant characters such as Byron, Beau Brummel and the Prince Regent – the latter is described with relish by Sandbrook as ‘an exceedingly greedy and selfish man.’
Nelson’s achievements were extraordinary, and unsurpassed on sea. The battles of Cape St. Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar are described with excitement and gore, vital for holding any child’s interest. But his self-importance even now raises an eyebrow, and Sandbrook describes Nelson’s fury at being awarded a mere barony.
We are probably at a stage where our heroes are no longer on the political or military stage, and instead to be found on playing fields or on screen. If we can see more books on shelves showing future generations of what was achieved in the past, then that can only be a good thing.
Oliver Webb-Carter is the Editor of Aspects of History.
