[.ca] Nelson: A Personal History (ISBN 0201408007)

From Amazon.com:
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.

Sadly disappointed:
I have just spent the last 4 weeks, on & off, trying to finish this fairly thin volume; during that time I've read over 10 other books - I think that indicates the readability of this biography. The biographer seems more interested in cramming in relatively superfluous information, with scant regard to punctuation with the result that each sentence ends up even longer than this one and I had to re-read many of them several times to make out the sense of what was being implied. Although meticulously researched, this seems less concerned with Nelson's naval actions and more with his below-the-navel actions. Our biographer seems not to have heard of the Naval Chronicle or Admiralty Papers - the Nile action is dealt with in a page, Copenhagen slightly more, but 2 years in the West Indies occupy less than a page. Nelson & Bronte (!?!) himself comes out of this looking more like an immature, pretentious, love-struck, egocentric hypochondriac than the Great Hero still revered nearly 2 centuries later. On the plus side, it is apparent that Nelson is loved by his men, whom he clearly cares for, (knowing many of them by name) and is diligent in supporting those less fortunate than himself, both with cash and influence. The focus on his tawdry menage-a-trois, stately processions round Britain and portrait-posing does little to foster the heroic image - in effect we are led to believe that the Nile action was won by luck, Copenhagen by bluff, and Trafalgar by a foolhardy tactic... I felt sadly let-down and would prefer a more readable, naval-oriented biography.

Misses the mark:
For a biography of a military leader, I was quite surprised to find out how little military events and details are given by Mr. Hibbert. For those interested in sea battles, tactics, and getting a feel for what life was like in the British Navy at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, skip this book. Hibbert's excruciating detail about Nelson's social life, liesure travel, meals at inns, parties, Lady Hamilton's dresses accumulates to the point that it is very tempting to "abandon ship" on this book. Many, many paragraphs drone on about tedious social affairs and extensive quotes from letters are repetitive and boring, not illuminating.

Half-Nelson:
I am a great admirer of Christopher Hibbert but I was very disappointed in this book. When I finished it I had the impression that I still didn't know much about what kind of man Nelson was. He seemed to be almost a cartoon character or someone in an old swashbuckler type movie, rather than a real person. One reason for this is that Mr. Hibbert relied too much on quotations from Nelson's own letters. Nelson apparently always saw himself as someone destined to be very special and oftimes when he wrote or said something it seemed as though he did it with one eye (if you'll pardon the pun) on posterity. He would be melodramatic and predict that this or that battle would make his name or result in his death, etc. He would be very upset when he wasn't promoted quickly enough or didn't get prize money after a battle but when he made a comment for public consumption he would say his only wish was to serve king and country. He loved to strut around with medals and ribbons pinned to his chest and he was seemingly always available to have his portrait painted by every artist in England. Mr. Hibbert does not provide any analysis or even express his opinion. It is almost as though he thought this was a story that could tell itself. Well,..... it couldn't! Mr. Hibbert called this book "Nelson: A Personal History", but it is too much about Nelson's personal life and at the same time not personal enough. There are too many quotations from letters to Emma Hamilton expressing his love for her, but not enough information about why Nelson abandoned his wife. There is too much gossip from people who either liked Mrs. Hamilton or couldn't stand her and one is left confused rather than feeling that a balanced picture has been presented, again, because Mr. Hibbert makes no attempt to separate the wheat from the chafe. Nelson's career is given short shrift and it seems as though in a flash he has gone from being a boy at sea to admiral, with no explanation of how he got from one place to the other. We are shown enough to know that Nelson was indeed a very brave (if reckless and sometimes foolhardy) man but it is never explained to us what made Nelson a great strategist or set him above any other captain or admiral of the fleet. We are given only one glimpse of the complexity of the man, and this towards the end of the book. Nelson met the future Duke of Wellington in a room of the Colonial Office, where they were both waiting to see Lord Castlereagh. Nelson had no idea that he was talking with somebody of any reputation or importance, although Wellington recognized Nelson. According to Wellington "he (Nelson) entered at once into conversation with me, if I can call it conversation, for it was almost all on his side and all about himself and, in reality, a style so vain and so silly as to surprise and almost disgust me." Nelson then left the room for a moment, apparently to find out from someone who exactly he had been speaking with. After finding out that Wellington was "somebody" he came back into the room and his manner was totally different. Wellington continued "his charlatan style had quite vanished...and certainly for the last half or three-quarters of an hour, I don't know that I ever had a conversation that interested me more...I saw enough to be satisfied that he was really a very superior man; but certainly a more sudden or complete metamorphosis I never saw." If only during the course of this 400 page book these depths could have been explored, we might then have been presented with the "real" Nelson!

A Good Start For a Novice Reader on Lord Admiral Nelson:
When I picked up this work, I knew only the basics about Nelson. In this presentation Hibbert achieves the goal of his title by providing the reader a good personal history of the man, Lord Admiral Nelson. The format of the book, as revealed in the table of contents, indicates from the get go that the book is written as a chronology of the great admiral's exploits at sea. Nelson's career is detailed from Britain to the "Mosquito Shore" to Naples to Copenhagen. One interesting dynamic that caught me unaware is that Admiral Nelson seemed to neglect his duties in order to pursue an affair with Lady Emma, the former prostitute and wife of a friend. Hibbert develops this neglect of duty well. However, this aspect of the book would have been improved if Hibbert could have found, or presented, more evidence as to how this neglect of duty may have influenced the morale of the sailors serving under the brilliant strategist, Lord Admiral Nelson. I recommend this book to anyone wanting a personal understanding of the ambition and foibles that drove Nelson. I gather that it is not a comprehensive look at Nelson's life, but I also understand that the author probably did not intend it to be. Nonetheless, this book is worth reading. A solid understanding of Nelson can be gained by resort to this book. A serious student of history and of "great men" will value this book as part of his or her library.

"Personal" Says it All:
"Nelson; A Personal History" That title says it all, as this book is truly an account of the personal life and relations of the admiral. It is not an account or study of his tactics and influence on warfare, which may be the subject of greatest importance to the reader searching for Nelson literature. This fact originally presented the book poorly to me, but as I read on through the book it becomes clear that Nelson was more than "The Hero of the Nile" or "Victor of Trafalgar" for which he is so fondly remembered, but rather am actual living man with real problems and actions. After reading this book it becomes apparent that understanding Nelson truly requires a study beyond his victories in battle, for those alone do little to truly present who Lord Nelson was. For someone seeking literature on warfare and tactics, I would recommend this book, but for those seeking an understanding of the figures behind the development of warfare and the influence of true personality in conflict, I would readily suggest this book. For a deeper understanding of the man beyond his exploits, this book is great.