Nelson: A Personal History

Accomplished British author Christopher Hibbert turns his attention to England's greatest maritime leader in this celebrated biography. Nelson joined the navy at age 12. By the time of his decisive victory over the French and Spanish at Trafalgar in 1805--a battle that would kill him--Nelson had lost his right arm and the sight in one eye from a life of naval combat. Nelson's activities on shore were often as intriguing as those at sea. Hibbert reveals a man loved by his fellow sailors but reviled by many social elites. Nelson, for example, carried on an extended affair with the wife of a powerful politician, and she even bore him a child. An absorbing book about a dynamic warrior.