HomeNew
AcquisitionsTen years ago, two French historians - Messrs. M Acerra and J Meyer - wrote: “ The Battle of the Nile, as the English call it, was the first battle of annihilation in maritime history. It consecrated, whether you like it or not, the finish of the French Navy as a force capable of counterbalancing British power. It could not be put together again and Aboukir carried within itself the germ of Trafalgar.”
Brian Lavery’s book is a contribution to the National Maritime Museum’s marking of the bi-centennial of the “Nelson Decade” to 2005. It is a work of superb scholarship. the Nelson touch is there, but it is no eulogy, and his shortcomings are not glossed over. Neither are his accomplishments. The scarcely credible twitchings of Fate’s fickle finger leading up to the final battle are described in riveting detail. How on earth could two fleets, Napoleon’s of well over three hundred vessels and Nelson’s of fifteen, sail parallel to each other for a week, sometimes as we now know separated by only fifty miles, and yet have no inkling of each other’s presence? Then there is the battle itself, where Catain Foley of Goliath with breathtaking audacity turned inside Admiral Brueys’ anchored fleet when orthodoxy suggested he should go outside, and so turned the battle. Inspiring stuff! DWB
Page added 2 September1998
| Home |
New
Acquisitions |