num_pages: 944
description: The most authoritative and intimate portrait written of Horatio Nelson In this epic biography of British history's most celebrated naval commander acclaimed historian John Sugden separates fact from myth to offer a powerful portrait of the military hero of Trafalgar. As was true of the Sugden's riveting account of Horatio Nelson's early years ( A Dream of Glory  2005) this comprehensive life of Lord Nelson is built from largely overlooked primary documents letters and diaries that reach across two centuries to invite us to share Nelson's multifaceted life in the Napoleonic Wars. The Sword of Albion offers the sweep and intimacy of first-rate historical fictionrevealing the interior lives for example of Lord Nelson's wife Fanny and family and the caring and more passionate Emma Lady Hamilton who nursed the war-weary hero back to health in Naples and London after his brilliant victory over the Spanish fleet at Cape St. Vincent in 1797 and the stunning defeat at Tenerife that cost Nelson his right arm. Today's reader comes to understand that every obstacle in Nelson's path was attacked head-on with an Achilles-like ferocity and resolve. Yet his life was no steady upward trajectory; it was instead plagued by injuries and debt for the commoner admiral in a royal navy and English society dominated by lineage and property. As Sugden points out His life was a mission with the essence of a tour de force hurrying toward a bloody climax that would change the fate of empires.
language: English
title: Nelson: The Sword of Albion
publisher: Henry Holt and Co.