Trafalgar: the untold story of the Greatest Sea Battle in History.
Nicholas Best
Weidenfeld and Nicholson
400 pages, $49.95

IT’S unfortunate that this book on the famous sea battle 200 years ago has been tagged the “untold story” because there’s really nothing new to be found in it.

English writer Nicholas Best has manfully tried to write an engaging and lively account in order to explain the significance of the battle while bringing to life both Lord Nelson’s final days and the lives of the men, English, French and Spanish who fought, died or survived on October 21, 1805. But the question remains, given the extensive bibliography he has included, was it necessary to have yet another book on the battle?

– David Sibley

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