Trafalgar 1805 - Nelson’s Crowning Victory

A detailed, illustrated examination of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson’s decisive victory over the combined fleets of France and Spain on 21 October 1805, one of the greatest naval triumphs in history. Off Cape Trafalgar, 27 British and 33 Franco-Spanish ships pounded each other in an epic four-hour struggle on whose outcome rested nothing less than Britain’s security against Napoleonic invasion. Nelson’s brilliant tactics, inspiring leadership and the superior training and morale of his crews left his opponents shattered in a savage encounter that not only marked the last great battle fought in the age of sail, but ushered in a century of British naval mastery. Alongside full-colour maps and reproductions of contemporary prints, Gregory Fremont-Barnes analyses the way the battle was conducted in detail.