The audacious Admiral Cochrane: the true life of a naval legend

"Lord Cochrane was a dominant figure in the maritime history of the early nineteenth century. While still a child he held commissions in both the army and navy, and he made his name in 1800 when in command of a small sloop he captured a Spanish frigate. His subsequent naval career was at turns brilliant and controversial, the latter aspect inflamed by his political career as a radical and his attempt to have his own admiral court-martialed. [...] A brilliant tactician and supreme egoist, his own version of his life has been the established version for over a century and a half. But by going back to original documents, objective contemporary accounts, and the work of the few scholars who have investigated incidents in Cochrane's life, a different picture emerges: a complex figure, who saw things in stark contrast and who could exhibit extreme paranoia and jealousy."--Provided by the publisher.