Around every reference collection there is, as it were, a penumbra of works that are almost, but not quite, reference books in the strict sense, and British Admirals of the Napoleonic Wars is in this group. It is a successor to an earlier volume by the same editors, entitled Precursors of Nelson (Harding and Le Fevre, 2000), a connection which explains the omission from it of several well known admirals dealt with in the earlier volume, notably Lord St Vincent. The average length of the chapters, each by a different author (not all of whom are professional historians) is 13,000 words. They are fully footnoted, and much use has been made of manuscript sources and of recent printed works. The illustrations have suffered by not having been printed on gloss paper.
The editors point out that the memory of Nelson has overshadowed the work of a large group of senior officers who, if they usually lacked his genius, were nevertheless highly competent seamen and tacticians. Just how competent is shown by such examples as little known Peter Rainer who, on his appointment as Commander‐in‐Chief in India, sailed from Spithead to Madras in a voyage of four months, without ever touching land, and without losing one of the 160 merchant vessels he was escorting. At the time, however, the memory of Trafalgar sometimes meant that generally successful commanders such as Sir Robert Calder were criticized for merely defeating, rather than annihilating, the enemy. It is also pointed out that the majority of the sailors would never have taken part in a major battle: the war was mostly one of blockade, patrols, convoys, and the ever‐present dangers of the sea. Collingwood reckoned that the blockade of Brest was more dangerous than a battle once a week. This well research collection will fill a gap in any library with maritime interests.
