Jeffrey Bernard
Nelson: A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert (Viking, £20).
Nelson has always been one of my heroes, and that most likely applies to many others as well. In some ways he was really rather ridiculous, and I find that more touching than silly. He once walked down the Strand in full dress uniform, covered in decorations, an arm missing and a patch over one eye, and then feigned surprise when he was recognised by a crowd of people who shook his one good hand and cheered him.
He cared tremendously for the sailors who served under him, and his victories at the Nile in 1798 and the complete destruc- tion of the combined French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar were simply strokes of the genius needed to win battles and wars. He saved England from invasion by the French, and at the Nile he stopped Napoleon from marching into India. A pity he didn't have better taste in women and a crying shame that Emma Hamilton was treated so shabbily by the powers that be after his death. Christopher Hibbert is quite simply one of the best historians alive.
The most overrated book of the year was, as it always is, the winner of the Booker Prize.
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