Who's Who in Nelson's Navy: 200 Naval Heroes

The publication of this book to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in the year after the anniversary suggests the production must have met with unforeseen delays: but it is worth waiting for. The author has previously edited the condensed version of the contemporary Naval Chronicle, reviewed some years ago in these columns. From it and other major manuscript and printed sources he has compiled biographies (averaging about 1,800 words but varying with the fame of the subject) of about 210 naval personalities. The degree of success they collectively enjoyed is shown by the statistic that...