Meet the real Jack Aubrey! This biography of Cochrane makes it easy to see why at least three different authors based their naval fiction on the greatest British fighting sea captain of all times. His amazing exploits in real life make the Master and Commander series seem a bit pale in comparison. Tip, if you are not a historian you can skim over the sections on his political career and attempts at naval inventions. Highly recommended for all Patrick O'Brian fans and all lovers of great sea stories. ( )

The life of Lord Cochrane is a remarkable story on its own, with no need for assistance in the telling, though this writer manages to have the pace slow to a crawl far too often by belabouring the political side of his subject. Cochrane was first of all a sailor and a warrior, though his passions were eclectic, and he felt keenly the responsibility to improve the world he was born into—in its widest sense. Consequently he was an innovator in naval tactics who also cared deeply and personally about his crews; he was an inventor who sought to use his understanding of science to improve the standard of living as well as to make war more efficient; he was a reformer both in the institutions of the Navy and in Parliament, where he sat as a Radical; and he was a champion of liberty, fighting not only Napoleon but also the causes of Chilean, Brazilian and Greek independence. The author was himself an MP and seems to be enamoured with the infighting and machinations that surrounded Cochrane’s career, including his trial for alleged stock fraud, which makes the biography come off rather uneven, despite the truly heroic nature of his subject. ( )

3520. Cochrane: The Life and Exploits of a Fighting Captain, by Robert Harvey (read 8 Jan 2002) This is a workmanlike biography of a Scottish sea captain in Napoleanic times, who had an amazingly successful and interesting career. He is the model for Patrick O'Brian's books (one of which, Master and Commander, I read June 22, 1998). Attention-holding reading. ( )

Not a bad read. Especially strong on Cochrane's trial - plenty of detail there. Marred by insufficent maps, I think. Some infelicities of detail: pressing was, for example, not limited to those who were merchant seaman, but to those who had 'used the sea' in any way at any time. Pretty good, though. ( )