VINCENT, Edgar

PERSONAL:

Male. Education: Oxford University, received degree.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Yale University Press, P.O. Box 209040, New Haven, CT 06520-9040.

CAREER:

Former senior manager for Imperial Chemical Industries; also worked as a management consultant and head hunter. Military service: Served in the English Royal Navy.

WRITINGS:

Nelson: Love and Fame (biography), Yale University Press (New Haven, CT), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS:

Edgar Vincent is a former business executive whose long fascination with British naval hero Horatio Nelson led him to write the biography Nelson: Love and Fame. Nelson, who led decisive victories against the French fleet during the Napoleonic Wars of the early nineteenth century, has often been the subject of history books. Critics have praised Vincent's 640-page study for successfully combining the often-contradictory aspects of Nelson's public and private life. As other historians have, the author explores Nelson's flaws, such as his well-known egotism and his affair with Lady Emma Hamilton, while also giving the famous admiral his well-deserved due for organizing the British navy into the undisputed dominant power on the world's seas during his lifetime. "Vincent's extraordinary work does justice to this extraordinary man," attested Atlantic Monthly reviewer Benjamin Schwarz. An Economist reviewer further supported this positive assessment, stating, "Mr. Vincent's text is an eloquent retelling of the familiar story: especially strong on psychological insights and illuminated by passages of vivid writing." The reviewer did quibble, however, that Vincent's reconstructions of dialogue sometimes make Nelson sound "like Captain Picard of the Starship Enterprise," adding that since the author draws largely on already-published resources, "this is not a book with startling new revelations."

Nevertheless, critical acclaim of Nelson was largely unanimous. New Criterion contributor Robert Messenger praised Vincent for providing "just enough of tactics while serving the man up whole for those who favor biography over tactical study. I can imagine no better life of one of history's greatest captains." L. G. Mitchell, writing in the Times Literary Supplement, concluded, "This is a splendid biography, not only because it is well written and well researched, but also because it neither seeks to demean the hero nor excuse the man."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Atlantic, May, 2003, Benjamin Schwarz, review of Nelson: Love and Fame, p. 103.

Booklist, June 1, 2003, Margaret Flanagan, review of Nelson, p. 1738.

Economist, April 5, 2003, "Winner Takes All; British Naval History."

Library Journal, May 1, 2003, Robert C. Jones, review of Nelson, p. 130.

Naval History, December, 2003, Joseph F. Callo, review of Nelson: Love & Fame.

New Criterion, June, 2003, Robert Messenger, "I Will Be a Hero," p. 80.

New York Times Book Review, June 22, 2003, Hilary Spurling, "The Admirable Nelson," section 7, p. 10.

Publishers Weekly, March 31, 2003, review of Nelson, p. 51.

Spectator, March 15, 2003, Tom Pocock, "The Anatomy of a Hero," p. 51.

Times Literary Supplement, March 28, 2003, L. G. Mitchell, "Adrift on Land."*