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The Real Master and Commander
by David Cordingly
Nicknamed le loup des mers (“the sea wolf”) by Napoleon, Thomas Cochrane was one of the most daring and successful naval heroes of all time. In this fascinating account of Cochrane’s life, David Cordingly, author of the bestselling Under the Black Flag and The Billy Ruffian, unearths startling new details about the real-life “Master and Commander,” from his daring exploits against the French navy to his role in the liberation of Chile, Peru, and Brazil, and the shock exchange scandal that forced him out of England and almost ended his naval career. Drawing on previously unpublished papers, his own travels, wide reading, and the kind of original research that distinguished The Billy Ruffian, Cordingly tells the rip-roaring story of the archetypal Romantic hero who conquered the seas and, in the process, defined his era.
"Cordingly...tells Cochrane's story with flair and sympathy" - PW.
"Landlubbers may find this a lengthy voyage, but devotees of yarns about brave British tars will be delighted to be aboard." - Kirkus.
Cordingly presents a balanced and readable history of Lord Cochrane that covers Cochrane's maneuvers against the French navy as well as his part in the liberation of Chile, Peru, and Brazil." - Library Journal.
This information about Cochrane was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
David Cordingly is an English naval historian and one of the world's leading authorities on pirates. Cordingly was Keeper of Pictures and Head of Exhibitions at the National Maritime Museum for twelve years.
Cordingly lives with his wife and family near the sea in Brighton.
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