"Lords of the Admiralty and the original dispatches" Topic

'When Napoleon eventually died in exile, the Lords of the Admiralty ordered that the original dispatches from seven major fleet battles – The Glorious First of June (1794), St Vincent (1797), Camperdown (1797), The Nile (1798), Copenhagen (1801), Trafalgar (1805) and San Domingo (1806) – should be gathered together and presented to the Nation. These letters, written by Britain's admirals, captains, surgeons and boatswains and sent back home in the midst of conflict, were bound in an immense volume, to be admired as a jewel of British history. Sam Willis, one of Britain's finest naval historians, stumbled upon this collection by chance in the British Library in 2010 and soon found out that only a handful of people knew of its existence. The rediscovery of these first-hand reports, and the vivid commentary they provide, has enabled Willis to reassesses the key engagements in extraordinary and revelatory detail, and to paint an enthralling series of portraits of the Royal Navy's commanders at the time. In a compelling and dramatic narrative, In the Hour of Victory tells the story of these naval triumphs as never before, and allows us to hear once more the officer's voices as they describe the battles that made Britain great.'

Blurb from book recommended by Tom Holland: link

Sounds potentially very interesting. Anyone read it?

In theory, it should be a Freebie, considering that the material is out of copyright.

Does sound interesting though…

Yes, it is excellent.

The actual letters and records are really immediate – even some contemporary battle sketches of the Nile.

You probably won't learn a great deal new into tactical insights etc to affect your gaming, it is not that kind of book.

One to immerse yourself in with a cup of tea and be taken back in time to the people who actually fought the battles.

Best wishes,

Mark Barker
The Inshore Squadron

In theory, it should be a Freebie, considering that the material is out of copyright.

Andrew,

Except that the original material has never been scanned and is kept in the British Library !

Even in the Internet age sometimes you have to pay for someone's effort to dig out the material and get it published.

To do him justice Sam is lobbying The British Library to get all the material scanned and publicly available.

Mark Barker
The Inshore Squadron

Understood and again, it does seem well worth having.

I'll have to save up for it.

Oh god, never mind his mining of them, can we have the fscimile reprints of the original please!