Press

What the critics say

A masterpiece... The flagship of the fleet, it leaves all others trailing in its wake
- Sunday Times

A magnificently-researched and thoughtful work which locates Nelson in a global context
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This work is massively authoritative
- Sunday Telegraph

One can say with confidence that this momumental tome is the finest yet written on England's great naval hero. Sugden's brilliant book is chock-full of fascinating details. And if the second volume turns out as well as this, his life of Nelson will be one of the historical masterpieces of our time
- Daily Express

It takes a biographer of Sugden's patience and scruples to separate reality from invention
- Sunday Herald

A massive, first-rate battleship of a book
- Observer

Nelson's early life has been neglected by biographers, but Sugden has patiently reconstructed the early years. Sugden's account of Nelson's battles is richly absorbing, and his fluent, buoyant prose scuds along, carrying the reader with it. This must surely become a standard life
- Spectator

This is an enthralling book. Sugden's research took in no fewer than thirty-two archives in four countries. Yet he never lets his mastery of the sources slow down the narrative. So good is Sugden's writing, so fascinating his material, so judicious his comments, that you long for the concluding volume
- Daily Telegraph

Sugden's passion for his subject and astonishing research reveal the blossoming hero in a new light
- Daily Mail

The most detailed study of Nelson ever published
- History Today