Photo de l'auteur

John Sugden (1) (1947–)

Auteur de Tecumseh: A Life

Pour les autres auteurs qui s'appellent John Sugden, voyez la page de désambigüisation.

9 oeuvres 873 utilisateurs 16 critiques

A propos de l'auteur

John Sugden is an independent scholar and a former associate editor of Oxford University Press's American National Biography project

Œuvres de John Sugden

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Date de naissance
1947-01-27
Sexe
male
Nationalité
UK
Pays (pour la carte)
England, UK
Lieu de naissance
Yorkshire, England, UK
Courte biographie
Born and raised in Yorkshire, author and lecturer John Sugden holds degrees from the Universities of Leeds, Lancaster and Sheffield, and has pursued historical research in archives throughout Britain and North America. His books include biographies of Sir Francis Drake and the Native American chief, Tecumseh. He is a member of the Society for Nautical Research.

Membres

Critiques

Scholarly - really scholarly....
 
Signalé
farrhon | 1 autre critique | Sep 16, 2020 |
As much of a test of endurance as a late-18 century voyage to the other side of the world, this enormous book is just volume 1 of 2 (with volume 2 even longer!). This ends in 1797 when Nelson is on his way home after losing his right arm at Tenerife (having lost his eye earlier in Corsica). It seems as if his promising Naval career is over - a one-armed Admiral is not much use he thinks.

The author describes the first forty or so years of Nelson's life very skillfully and interestingly and in great detail. Lots of little nuggets in each chapter. If you have the time and patience to invest in this enormous tome it is well worth your time.

It may be a while until i can muster enough enthusiasm to tackle Vol 2 though!
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
mick745 | 1 autre critique | Apr 8, 2020 |
This one took me a while to read because it is very in-depth and a very detailed look at the life of both Tecumseh and his younger brother, the Prophet or Tenskwetawa. The book is an academic account that is well documented with ample footnotes and notations of interest. This is probably the fullest and most authoritative account of the Shawnee prince that I have read. A good read for the historian.
½
 
Signalé
Al-G | 1 autre critique | Jan 11, 2016 |
Cette critique a été écrite dans le cadre des Critiques en avant-première de LibraryThing.
In the past I have read at least two biographies of Admiral Horatio Nelson and numerous historical sketches and articles. I thought myself reasonably well informed on his life and his impact historically. That is, until I read John Sugden's prodigious and, at times, ponderous tome on the latter part of the life of Horatio Nelson, "Nelson: The Sword of Albion". It takes the author 854 pages of closely set type to cover just the last eight years of his life, from his recovery from the amputation of his arm in 1797 to his death at the Battle of Trafalgar in October of 1805.

It is inevitable that, with that short amount of time explicated in that massive amount of type, the reader comes away with far more than a simple biography of a remarkable man. The reader also becomes well informed in: the ins and outs of the Napoleonic wars; the politics of the entire Mediterranean basin and the diplomatic ups and downs of Nelson in that arena; the role class, nepotism, influence and death played in advancement in the British Navy of the time; the whole manner in which the British fleet functioned; and on and on. The author truly gives the reader in-depth instruction and insight in all manner of issues of the day.

The most uninspiring parts of this remarkable history are connected with the interminable Sturm und Drang of the strange relationship Nelson had with Lady Hamilton and the ignominious abandonment of his wife, Fanny. Just as his genius and remarkable abilities as a leader and admiral are writ large in history, so are his human shortcomings and failures no less glaring. A flawed man of history, indeed. He sought recognition and standing in society, yearned for attention and honors, yet maintained a fiction concerning his mistress and illegitimate daughter by that mistress to the very end.

The research Sugden had to have done to write this massive work is almost unthinkable. He comments in the introduction that his earlier work on Nelson, covering the earlier years of Nelson's life, could have benefited from the research he and others have most recently done. My interest is now piqued and I will have to acquire Sugden's "Nelson: A Dream of Glory, 1758-1797" to complete this encyclopedic study.

Sugden is at his very best when he is writing about the battles of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar. He has an exactness of language and description that is a joy to read and the reader is drawn into the setting as though he were actually there. There are few writers of naval history or fiction who can compare to what Sugden has to offer when he is fully engaged in the motion and vision of a battle.

A remarkable book, worthy of a re-read, and definitely worth the space on a library shelf. The copy I have is an advance reader's edition and as such, it does not contain the sixteen pages of illustrations nor does it contain the approximately fifty pages of footnotes, which was unfortunate, since a full sense of the book's completeness could be obtained only by having access to both of these important parts, but most especially to the footnotes.

Nonetheless, it was a tremendous read. The understanding coming from the book on that period of time in British naval history, on Nelson himself and on the politics of the Napoleonic Wars can only be described as extraordinary.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
BlaueBlume | 10 autres critiques | Aug 15, 2013 |

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Statistiques

Œuvres
9
Membres
873
Popularité
#29,326
Évaluation
3.8
Critiques
16
ISBN
59
Langues
1

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