So is this the right book for me?!
**Close this window to return to S.H.E.R.O.E.S.**
| Seize the Fire:Heroism, Duty and the Battle of Trafalgar |
Rating: |
| Adam Nicolson |
Reviewer: hiddenmagic217 |
Recently, Harper Collins sent me Adam Nicolson's Seize the Fire:
Heroism, Duty and the Battle of Trafalgar. This because I joined the
Harper Collins First Look Program, wherein interested readers are sent
books for free before those books come out on the market in return for
a written review.
The book centers around the Battle of Trafalgar. Each chapter begins
with a different time and direction. For example, Part 1 is "Morning,
October 21st 1805, 5:50 A.M. to 12:50 P.M." Nicolson, in each part
and chapter, includes much information concerning British culture,
French culture, Spanish culture, the men of the battle, the men before
the battle, the political climate of the world. All this helps to
explain Trafalgar as Nicolson sees it. Why did the British experience
such an amazing victory? Purely because of Nelson's genius, or purely
because of their superior ships? What had made Britain the monarch of
the seas?
The answers to these and more questions are complicated, and at the
same time interesting. The book, while dense, packs in information
without becoming unreadable. Nicolson also includes dozens of excerpts
of the time, such as parts of Nelson's correspondence to his mistress,
and parts of the letters which men who died at Trafalgar had written
to their families.
I hadn't really expected a book about Britain and the Battle of
Trafalgar to be immensely interesting. I like history. I like the
whole Nelson image. I like, especially, British history, and history
during the time of Napoleon. But how fascinating could a book about
these things alone really [i]be[/i]?
It (pleasantly) surprised me. When it comes out in September of 2005,
it might be worth picking up. 5/5.
**Close this window to return to S.H.E.R.O.E.S.**