This is a well constructed eyewitness account of this most famous of naval battles on 21 October 1805, using accounts from a wide range of participants on both the English, and the French and Spanish side under Napoleon. This battle was seen, first and foremost, as "the final defeat of Napoleon’s hopes of invading the British Isles" and the battle that "had given Britain command of the sea, however many more battleships Napoleon might build". It therefore probably deserves to be seen alongside other such existential threats to Britain as the Normans in 1066 and the Nazis in 1940. This account shows each stage of the battle, through the run up to it, the course of events on 21 October including of course the death of Nelson, and the aftermath, including the storm that dispersed many surviving ships, and the transport of Nelson's body back to London for his funeral. One of the most poignant themes is the mixed feelings of Britons, relief at the victory of Britain over Napoleonic forces, mixed hugely with sadness at the death of Nelson, a genuine popular hero with ordinary landlubber Britons as well as with the rank and file sailors in British ships; in the words of one seaman in Nelson's flagship the Victory, "Great God! I would rather the shot had taken off my head and spared his life".

One minor criticism I had is that perhaps the extracts from eyewitnesses dominated the text a little too much, and I could perhaps have done with a little more analysis and commentary on the events. ( )