Publisher's Synopsis
Horatio nelson, the most successful and popular british naval commander in the wars with revolutionary and napoleonic france, set abiding standards of originality and initiative in strategical and tactical thinking and in leadership of every major navy, and is still accepted as the most appealing of british national heroes. Nelson's flair and forcefulness as a commander in battle were decisive factors in his two major victories- the battles of the nile and trafalgar. In the former, he destroyed the french fleet upon which napoleon had based his hopes of eastern conquest, and in the latter he destroyed the combined french and spanish fleets- this ensuring the safety of the british isles from invasion and the supremacy of british sa power for more than a century. Spectacular success in battle, combined with humanity as a commander and a scandalous private life, raised nelson to godlike status in his lifetime. After his death at trafalgar in 1805, he was enshrined in popular myth and iconography. NOT UK/OM
