Seize the Fire: Heroism, Duty, and Nelson's Battle of Trafalgar, (Paperback)

from ehines

A very good book, if a bit repetitive. Combines elements of a literary history with more straightforward historical biography. Nelson comes to embody the transition from the Enlightenment to the Romantic worldview. Nicholson makes a good case for Nelson's importance as an example of and as a tote...

from vguy

Beautifully written in the best Nicholson tradition. Makes a good case for Nelson being the archetype of his age as a paradoxical massacre-prone gentleman and Romantic epitome. Brings in great material from literature (especially Coleridge) and the wider culture. but the case seems somewhat stret...

from ASBiskey

There is a reason "the Battle of Trafalgar" is listed after "Heroism" and "Duty" in the title. This book uses the battle as a framework to examine many of the psycological and sociological motivations of the participants in the battle and the English, French, and Spanish societies as a whole. I f...