1 comments about ADMIRAL OF THE BLUE: The Life and Times of Admiral John Child Purvis (1747 - 1825).

1. John Purvis was the first British naval officer to directly confront in battle a young French Artillery captain who later went on to become Napoleon Bonaparte. He proved his ability and bravery in the field of conflict at a very early age and went on to be regarded as a very safe and competent commander.
   
   Purvis served under Admiral John Jervis in the Mediterranean Fleet and so impressed his superior he was promoted to Rear Admiral in May 1804. Ironically, because a number of officers were promoted to that rank at that time, it meant there was no sea-going vacancy for Purvis for the next 2 years - thus he was not present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805!
   
   On the death of Nelson, Collingwood became Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet and asked that Purvis be appointed his second-in-command. Much later, when Collingwood died, Purvis was, for almost two months, Commander-in-Chief until the arrival of Collingwood's designated successor. Those were a very busy two months during which there was a great storm and much fighting at Cadiz.
   
   On handing over command to Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, Purvis returned home. He had been away for almost 5 years and wrote to the Admiralty for permission to strike his flag (retire). His request was granted and on 13 May 1810, Vice Admiral John Child Purvis was rowed ashore for the very last time.
   
   Once again, we have another excellent book from these publishers which provides the reader with a complete and very well researched account of the professional and private life of one of Nelson's fellow officers. He is one whose name does not readily spring to mind - if only because fate decreed he would not be at Trafalgar. Nevertheless, the story of his career, life and family are as fascinating as any other.
   
   This book is an important contribution for those who are interested in putting together "every" single piece of the huge jigsaw that was the British Navy in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.
   
   NM

1 comments about Modern British Statesmen, 1867-1945.

1. As an A-level student I found this book exceptionally helpful with my studies of British History. The book is written so that it directly coincides with the information I need to fulfill the curriculum. Most importantly the chapters on the statesmen are readable. Similar books I have encountered during the course are dull and dry, necessary to read but not a pleasure. The chapters on the statesmen in this book are fluid, informative, and more importantly easy and pleasureable to read. The chapters are helpful in that they contain not only detailed information on each statesman, but a general background on the period and politics of the time, which I found an extremely useful base for my further studies. Almost as significant as the chapters on each statesman is the appendix. The appendix contains factual information on every topic I needed during the period, general election results, economic details. Even after reading the book I found this a priceless reference, certainly no other history text book I have read has such a wealth of factual information on hand. Overall I would say that for someone such as I, studying A-level history or politics, this book is the most valuable you can have, I still find myself referring to it daily.

No comments about Queen Victoria And Her Chief Ministers.

1 comments about Moment Of War.

1. This memoir of a young English man who volunteers to fight on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War describes in detail much of the squalor of that war. He departs from France and crosses into the Republican areas of Spain illegally with no preparation and no plan. He just walks across the border with a violin in his backpack and his actual passport. Once he arrives, the Republican forces assume that he is a spy, as his passport stamps prove that he was in Spanish Morocco shortly before the insurrection began.
   He barely escapes from being shot and he becomes one more motley man in a motley crew of international volunteers. They have come from England, Belgium, Sweden, Russia and France, thinking that the Republican cause was a great crusade against fascism. However, disillusionment sets in very quickly as his adventure can be summed up with the phrase, `cold, ragged, dirty and hungry."
   Lee captures the despair and pathetic destruction of the Spanish countryside during the war. The war has transformed the Spanish people into a ragged bad, on the brink of starvation and subject to death from artillery or aerial bombardment at any time. Eventually, he is put into battle and kills at least one member of the Franco forces. It gives him no joy and it is clear to all that he is such a poor soldier that not even the Republican forces, so desperate for fighting men, has a use for him. In a conclusion typical of this man's try for glory, he is arrested when he tries to go back to France, only to be rescued from prison by another British man.
   The Republican forces in the Spanish Civil war accepted many idealistic young men and turned them into cynical men struggling to survive or a pile of rotting flesh. Lee captures many aspects of the conflict and unlike other authors such as Hemingway, who portrayed it as a great cause, describes it as a simple destroyer of men.

No comments about Winston Churchill: His Finest Hour.

No comments about My early life: A roving commission.

No comments about David Lloyd George and the British Labour Movement: Peace and War (Modern Revivals in Economic and Social History).

No comments about History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada: Volume 5. Edward the Sixth. Mary.

No comments about Frances, Countess Lloyd George.

No comments about Margaret Aylward, 1810-1889.