The Terror before Trafalgar: Nelson, Napoleon and the Secret War - Softcover
Nelson's victory at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 was a pivotal event in European history. But Trafalgar was not simply an isolated battle fought and won in an afternoon - the naval campaign had in fact begun more than four years before.
This extraordinary period, following Napoleon's threat to invade England in 1801, came to be known as The Great Terror, and Britain was on the alert. As the Grande Armee faced a Dad's army of English volunteers across the Channel, a secret war of espionage and subversion was fought in the shadows. New weapons - rockets, submarines and torpedoes - were developed.
Drawing on diaries, letters and newspapers, Tom Pocock paints a vivid picture of the years from 1801 to 1805, and of people caught up in these events: Nelson himself as he blockaded the French at sea for two unbroken years, his love Emma Hamilton waiting at home, Jane Austen and her naval brothers, the diarist Fanny Burney, the admirals, generals and politicians, as well as the lesser-known men such as Fulton, Congreve, Moreau and Pichegru who waged the secret war on either side of the Channel.
The Economist
"Engrossing... The Terror Before Trafalgar is narrative history at its shining best."
Peter Padfield, BBC History
"Tom Pocock is the doyen of Nelson scholarship in our time... Pocock has provided a fascinating cast of characters as outstanding in their way as Nelson..."
Sunday Times
"Pocock adds fresh lustre to his reputation as our leading authority on Nelson with this sudy of the threat of a Napoleonic invasion that convulsed Britain"
Richard Woodman, Lloyd's List
"Mr. Pocock is perhaps the world's leading authority on the great admiral... Mr. Pocock 's book is a lucid exposition of this vibrantly exciting period..."
Nicholas Fearn, Independent on Sunday
"A superb contribution..."
This extraordinary period, following Napoleon's threat to invade England in 1801, came to be known as The Great Terror, and Britain was on the alert. As the Grande Armee faced a Dad's army of English volunteers across the Channel, a secret war of espionage and subversion was fought in the shadows. New weapons - rockets, submarines and torpedoes - were developed.
Drawing on diaries, letters and newspapers, Tom Pocock paints a vivid picture of the years from 1801 to 1805, and of people caught up in these events: Nelson himself as he blockaded the French at sea for two unbroken years, his love Emma Hamilton waiting at home, Jane Austen and her naval brothers, the diarist Fanny Burney, the admirals, generals and politicians, as well as the lesser-known men such as Fulton, Congreve, Moreau and Pichegru who waged the secret war on either side of the Channel.
The Economist
"Engrossing... The Terror Before Trafalgar is narrative history at its shining best."
Peter Padfield, BBC History
"Tom Pocock is the doyen of Nelson scholarship in our time... Pocock has provided a fascinating cast of characters as outstanding in their way as Nelson..."
Sunday Times
"Pocock adds fresh lustre to his reputation as our leading authority on Nelson with this sudy of the threat of a Napoleonic invasion that convulsed Britain"
Richard Woodman, Lloyd's List
"Mr. Pocock is perhaps the world's leading authority on the great admiral... Mr. Pocock 's book is a lucid exposition of this vibrantly exciting period..."
Nicholas Fearn, Independent on Sunday
"A superb contribution..."
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Tom Pocock is the author of 18 books (and editor of two more), mostly biographies but including two about his experiences as a newspaper war correspondent. Born in London in 1925 - the son of the novelist and educationist Guy Pocock - he was educated at Westminster School and Cheltenham College, joining the Royal Navy in 1943. He was at sea during the invasion of Normandy and, having suffered from ill-health, returned to civilian life and in 1945 became a war correspondent at the age of 19,the youngest of the Second World War. After four years wth the Hulton Press current affairs magazine group, he moved to the Daily Mail as feature-writer and then Naval Correspondent, becoming Naval Correspondent of The Times in 1952. In 1956, he was a foreign corresponent and special writer for the Daily Express and from 1959 was on the staff of the Evening Standard,as feature writer,Defence Correspondent and war correspondent. For the last decade of his time on the Standard he was Travel Editor. He wrote his first book, NELSON AND HIS WORLD in 1967 on his return from reporting the violence in Aden and his interest in Nelson has continued. Indeed, eight of his books are about the admiral and his contemporaries; his HORATIO NELSON was runner-up for the Whitbread Biography Award of 1987. Tom Pocock has contributed to many magazines and appeared on television documentaries about Nelson and the subject of another of his biographies,the novelist and imperialist Sir Rider Haggard.
From Booklist:
Pocock, who has eight books on Lord Nelson to his credit, offers a gripping account of the four years leading up to one of the pivotal events of European history: the Battle of Trafalgar, the last great battle of sailing warships. Napoleon, ever intent on conquering anything in his path, planned to cross the English Channel and march into London. At the outset of this book, little hope is held that the British could stop him. But Pocock presents a cast of figures who created insurmountable roadblocks in Napoleon's way, including Nelson himself, who blockaded the French at sea for two years, all the while pining for his mistress, Emma Hamilton. Pocock painstakingly relates these events through diaries, letters, and newspaper articles, culminating in the great sea battle at Trafalgar that finally rid England of the fear of French invasion, while sadly taking the life of its greatest sea commander. This is a fine addition to the literature on this era. Allen Weakland
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherThistle Publishing
- Publication date2013
- ISBN 10 1909609676
- ISBN 13 9781909609679
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages306
- Rating
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