The author deals first with Drake and what he calls the Fleet Tradition, of which he regards Drake, the greatest Elizabethan sailor, as the indubitable founder; next the author deals with Nelson, his relations with Lady Hamilton, and the various heroic achievements which have immortalized his name. From Nelson the author passes on to Napoleon, and shows how his career and policy have had a vital relation to the World War. As himself a sailor of the old wooden-ships period, Sir Walter is able to handle, with special knowledge and intimacy, the technique of the seafaring exploits of Nelson; and Sir Walter’s analysis of the character of Nelson, a combination of vanity, childishness, statesmanlike ability, and incomparable seamanship and courage, is singularly well conceived.
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
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