Synopsis
More than 200 years after his death at the battle of Trafalgar, Nelson’s many-sided, contradictory nature still fascinates us.Yet surprisingly little is known about the development of his personality. In particular, until now no biographer has attempted fully to explain the effect on Nelson of his childhood.Nelson only became a national hero when he was a commodore, and most of the familiar events of his life – above all, his victories of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar – occurred in his last seven years. But the professional activities of his early manhood were immensely varied, ranging from jungle fighting in the West Indies to exploration in the Arctic. The author describes how these experiences led up to the climax at Trafalgar, while always relating them to the intensely human qualities of the man who lived through them. Nelson had vivid powers of expression, and the author makes full use of the admiral’s own words in recounting the events of his life.With Nelson and His World , Tom Pocock describes Nelson’s family and the social environment in which he grew up, offering fresh explanations for his independent outlook and occasional insubordination, his vanity and his infatuation (which endured until death) with Emma Hamilton.‘The best short life of his subject available’ - The Sunday Telegraph‘Richly detailed and entertaining …’ - Publishers WeeklyTom Pocock (1925–2007) has been described as the foremost authority on Nelson. He wrote eight books about the admiral and his time; his book Horatio Nelson was runner-up for the Whitbread Biography Award in 1987. He also wrote biographies of Captain Marryrat, Rider Haggard, General Sir William Walker and Alan Moorhead, as well as several books documenting his own experiences as a war correspondent. Pocock was also a respected journalist, working for The Times , Daily Express and Evening Standard .
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.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
