Rating: 
Summary: Psycho-Analytical
Review: This is a new perspective about "Love and Fame", and so it emphasizes the women he loved. I have read other bios. of Nelson, where the authors seem to know Nelson better. Here in this bio., Vincent gives psychological explanations for the motivations of Nelson, and gets them wrong. The author seems to be a 21st-century person explaining an 18th-century man in today's terms, and ultimately not understanding him. Nevertheless, the numerous large, color pictures of Nelson and his very lovely Lady Hamilton were wonderful additions.
Rating: 
Summary: A v. good book even if it doesn't say much we don't know
Review: This is not the best new book on Lord Nelson. That honour goes to a book that, because it's not published and promoted by such a lucrative publisher, probably won't sell as well as this one.That is a pity, because Joel Hayward's FOR GOD AND GLORY: LORD NELSON AND HIS WAY OF WAR is undoubtedly the most original and thought-provoking book on Nelson written in twenty or thirty years. I strongly recommend it. This book, by Mr Vincent, has a very different focus. It follows a well-trodden path, adding little to the view of Nelson put forward by Pocock, White, Oman and Warner. It deals with Nelson's personal life and almost pscho-analyses his personality. This can be irritating, even if Mr Vincent's treatment is generally fair. The author knows little about the Georgian navy and the warfare of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods. Reader wanting to know about this should consult Hayward, White and Brian Lavery. But as a biography, as opposed to analytical naval analysis, this book is entertaining and well written. Nelson as a man emerges from the pages as an odd little fellow, but a charming and brilliant one.
Rating: 
Summary: I think this is a superior work but not much is new
Review: This writer has not brought forth a new interpretation or provided new facts, but as a biography of a brilliant Englishman this is solid and enjoyable. It is a reliable narrative of all the main events in his life.
| 
