Cochrane: The Life and Exploits of a Fighting Captain - Softcover

Harvey, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786709235 ISBN 13: 9780786709236

Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers Inc, 2001

Synopsis

A seaman as heroic as Nelson, a master of gunnery and genius at deception, a tactician so formidably skillful Napoleon called him "the sea wolf," Thomas Cochrane made of his life a legend more sensational than any of the works of fiction it inspiredlike the tales of C. S. Forrester and Patrick O'Brian's best-selling series of naval novels featuring the redoubtable Jack Aubrey. Barely twenty-five in 1800 when he assumed command of the tiny brig Speedy, Cochrane sailed to naval glory in the Mediterranean and won national fame at home. A maverick, he preferred innovation to the orders of the Admiralty. He flew under false colors, instituted in-shore guerrilla raiding, promoted the use of explosion ships, and experimented with poison gas. As a mercenary, he fought in the cause of independence for Chile, Peru, and Brazil, where, outnumbered and outgunned, he triumphed over Spanish and Portuguese naval forces. He also survived a Stock Exchange scandal that landed him in prison. Rebellious, dashing, mad, heroic, Cochrane epitomized the spirit of the Romantic Age he embodied.

About this title

Review

...this gripping account of an extraordinary life ... an entertaining and compulsive read... Cochrane's story is one worth telling and ... Robert Harvey does it justice. -- The Daily Telegraph, Sept. 23, 2000

Robert Harvey has produced a lively biography. The stories of [Cochrane's] staggering achievements in winning control of both the Pacific and the Atlantic coasts read like the most far-fetched triumphs of Jack Aubrey, or his forerunner, C S Forester's Hornblower. He was a great man but also a phenomenal egotist, who sacrificed his family and almost everyone else to his restless ambition. -- Literary Review, Oct. 2000

Robert Harvey is the latest biographer to be seduced by the comet-like figure of Thomas Cochrane, perhaps the most brilliant commander any navy has ever known...[and] has written a bright and breezy account of Cochrane's life. -- London Evening Standard, Oct. 2, 2000

Truth can be not only stranger but a lot less just than fiction... just wait until you read the true story of Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald. As Robert Harvey convincingly argues, it is Cochrane's exploits that gave birth to the fictional genre of Napoleonic sea adventures. -- The Independent, Oct. 10, 2000

Book Description

The colourful commander who inspired Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey

Edition details

• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers Inc
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786709235
• ISBN 13: 9780786709236
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336