Cochrane: The Real Master and Commander | 
 enlarge | Author: David Cordingly
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Category: Book
List Price: $18.00
Buy New: $9.94
You Save: $8.06 (45%)
New (31) Used (7) from $9.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 8422
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 1596915870
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9781596915879
ASIN: 1596915870
Publication Date: September 16, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
From the bestselling author of Under the Black Flag comes the definitive biography of Thomas Cochrane, the swashbuckling nineteenth-century maritime hero who “packed [in] enough drama and history to shame both Horatio Nelson and Sir Francis Drake” (Ken Rignle, Washington Post) In this fascinating account of Thomas Cochrane’s extraordinary life, David Cordingly (Under the Black Flag and The Billy Ruffian) unearths startling new details about the real-life “Master and Commander”—from his heroic battles against the French navy to his role in the liberation of Chile, Peru, and Brazil, and the stock exchange scandal that forced him out of England and almost ended his naval career. Drawing on previously unpublished papers, his own travels, wide reading, and original research, Cordingly tells the rip-roaring story of the archetypal Romantic hero who conquered the seas and, in the process, defined his era.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Good history, could have been recorded better. July 30, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Amazon.com has many comments already which praise the quality of this history of Cochrane. I thought it was good, also, and was impressed by how hard the author tried to present different viewpoints of some controversial circumstances in his life. I don't think I need to add anything to what has been written about the book's appeal to those with an interest in the age of fighting sail. I did not like the recording on the MP3 version, however, because of the length of each chapter. Tracks ranged from 20-35 minutes or so in length rather than most audio books that break up the tracks into 5-10 minute sections. Since I listen to audio books on the treadmill and am normally on the treadmill 35-50 minutes, I was always in the middle of a track when I quit and had to repeat that entire track the next day to hear the end of it. It was annoying as it is the only audio book I have that was done like this. The quality of the reading, the consistency in volume between tracks, and the clarity of the recording were excellent, however.
Must Read for Fans of Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower March 4, 2008
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Many readers will come to David Cordingly's The Real Master and Commander from a desire as fans of Patrick O'Brian and C.S. Forester to learn more about the remarkable man whose life provided the raw material for the tales of Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower. Make no mistake, however, Cordingly's excellent historical biography deserves to be read on its own merits.
Lord Thomas Cochrane executed such stunningly audacious feats - successfully attacking much larger ships with his small sloop Speedy, leading an attack of fireships on the French fleet at Basque Roads, and helping Chile and Brazil establish their independence - that one might cry `what pitiful stuff' if one read it in a work of historical fiction. But it really happened.
Cochrane was a flawed man who could not restrain himself from reckless attacks on powerful forces in the navy and the government generally. When he found himself entangled in an infamous stock exchange fraud (the leaders spread false rumors that Napoleon had died and then sold their shares when the market predictably spiked), he discovered that powerful men were only too happy to see him convicted and drummed out of the navy. Cordingly judiciously sifts the evidence of Cochrane's guilt or innocence from our vantage point nearly 200 years later.
In addition to his naval feats Cochrane also fought for reform causes as a member of parliament. His intemperate tactics and language did him little good. Of course, he was quite right in insisting that either the electoral system would be reformed from within or reformed with a vengeance from without.
After several years in the `wilderness', Cochrane sailed to South America and successfully aided the rebellion against Spain and Portugal. He eventually wore out his welcome there as well, in part due to fights over prize money. From there he went to the Greek Fiasco, as Cordingly aptly names it. He spent his remaining years fighting with some success to restore honor to his name. A sad dwindling away for this remarkable man.
A must read for fans of Age of Sail historical fiction and an excellent histroical biography.
The British Navy's True Master and Commander February 15, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
As a die hard Patrick O'Brian fan and an amateur history buff this book was intriguing to me. It is very well written and presents the life story of an amazing British Navy hero not well known today.
David Cordingly does a superb job presenting the real life exploits of Cochrane, which incredibly are every bit as extraordinary as the fictional exploits of Captain Jack Aubrey in the Patrick O'Brian Master and Commander series.
I highly recommend it.
Almost forgotten hero January 27, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
A great story and a great read about a great commander by my new favorite author, Thank You, Sir. I am going to order "Billy Ruffian".
Excellent Biography of an Extraordinary Man December 30, 2007
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
I think I am correct in saying that I have read all of the biographies of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, published in the last few decades, and I would rate this volume as the being the best of all, giving good coverage of all phases of Cochrane's long naval and political careers. Unlike some authors, Cordingly is careful to match Cochrane's own accounts of his activities against other primary sources, and to give equal balance to Cochrane's activities in the wars for South American independence with those during the Napoleonic Wars.
Cochrane was an extraordinary man, his genuine history perhaps more amazing than any of the fiction inspired by his real-world activities, this is a biography that does him justice, lauding his good qualities and achievements without hiding his flaws and failures.
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