Synopses & Reviews
In
Seize the Fire, Adam Nicolson, author of the widely acclaimed
God's Secretaries, takes the great naval battle of Trafalgar, fought between the British and Franco-Spanish fleets in October 1805, and uses it to examine our idea of heroism and the heroic. Is violence a necessary aspect of the hero? And daring? Why did the cult of the hero flower in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in a way it hadn't for two hundred years? Was the figure of Nelson—intemperate, charming, theatrical, anxious, impetuous, considerate, indifferent to death and danger, inspirational to those around him, and, above all, fixed on attack and victory—an aberration in Enlightenment England? Or was the greatest of all English military heroes simply the product of his time, "the conjurer of violence" that England, at some level, deeply needed?
It is a story rich with modern resonance. This was a battle fought for the control of a global commercial empire. It was won by the emerging British world power, which was widely condemned on the continent of Europe as "the arrogant usurper of the freedom of the seas." Seize the Fire not only vividly describes the brutal realities of battle but enters the hearts and minds of the men who were there; it is a portrait of a moment, a close and passionately engaged depiction of a frame of mind at a turning point in world history.
Review
“A masterly reconstruction of this event.” Christopher Hitchens, Atlantic Monthly
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“The reader will find nothing dull about this sparkling work...majestic, poetic and, at base, authentic.” Literary Review
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“full of suspense and vivid, raw descriptions of the butchery...sublime writing” The Scotsman
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“Elegant and imaginative.” Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
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“Nicolsons eye for detail creates a compelling readability.” The Spectator
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“So ripping I faced the classic ocean-voyage quandary. Halfway through, my supply of pages dwindling, I started to ration.” David Lipsky, New York Times Book Review
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“strikingly original...Mr. Nicolson brings to life superbly the horror, devastation and gore of Trafalgar.” The Economist
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“Seize the Fire...is so ripping I faced the classic ocean-voyage quandary. Halfway through, my supply of pages dwindling, I started to ration...stirring, vividly written book.” Independent on Sunday
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“Nicolson brilliantly characterises each navy - British, French, Spanish - as an expression of the countries to which they belonged...vivid” Country Life
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“A thrilling book.” Bloomberg News
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“Bold and provocative...Nicolsons book stands out from amongst its rivals.” Sunday Telegraph
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“argued with vigour and written with grace, it is an illuminating piece of interpretive cultural history.” Sunday Times (London)
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“A well-reasoned transoceanic rejoinder to Freemans Affairs of Honor, and a pleasure for fans of Aubrey and Hornblower.” Kirkus Reviews
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“Vibrant and welcome addition to the admittedly already large library of Nelsonia.” Jonathan Bouquet, The Observer
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“Of the books marking the bicentenary of...Trafalgar, Adam Nicolsons can claim to be one of the most original” The Week
About the Author
Adam Nicolson is the author of Seamanship, Sea Room, and the bestselling New York Times Notable Book God's Secretaries. He is a winner of the Somerset Maugham and William Heinemann Prizes, and he lives with his family at Sissinghurst Castle.