Cochrane: The Life and Exploits of a Fighting Captain - Couverture souple

The life and exploits of the daring seaman Thomas Cochrane, who rose from midshipman to admiral and was called "the sea wolf" by Napoleon, are so extraordinary that his life reads like a compelling work of fiction. In one sense it became so, for the novelist Patrick O'Brian took Cochrane's exploits and used them as the basis for Jack Aubrey, the main protagonist of naval novels set during the Napoleonic War. His life on land was as colourful and adventurous as on sea. Like O'Brian's Aubrey, he was framed in a Stock Exchange scandal. Sentenced to the pillory, he escaped prison by means of a rope and fled the country to become a mercenary admiral in the service of countries fighting for independence. Off the coast of Chile, Peru, Brazil and Greece, always outnumbered and outgunned, he became a legend of daring and courage - on one occasion chasing the entire Portuguese fleet in a single ship. An innovative tactician, he was the first advocate of onshore guerilla raiding. He promoted the use of explosive-laden ships and counter-intelligence and recommended the use of sulphur gas to the Admiralty.

A seaman as heroic as Nelson, a master of gunnery and genius at deception, a tactician so formidably skillful Napoleon called him "the sea wolf," Thomas Cochrane made of his life a legend more sensational than any of the works of fiction it inspired—like the tales of C. S. Forrester and Patrick O'Brian's best-selling series of naval novels featuring the redoubtable Jack Aubrey. Barely twenty-five in 1800 when he assumed command of the tiny brig Speedy, Cochrane sailed to naval glory in the Mediterranean and won national fame at home. A maverick, he preferred innovation to the orders of the Admiralty. He flew under false colors, instituted in-shore guerrilla raiding, promoted the use of explosion ships, and experimented with poison gas. As a mercenary, he fought in the cause of independence for Chile, Peru, and Brazil, where, outnumbered and outgunned, he triumphed over Spanish and Portuguese naval forces. He also survived a Stock Exchange scandal that landed him in prison. Rebellious, dashing, mad, heroic, Cochrane epitomized the spirit of the Romantic Age he embodied.