Nelson: Britain's First Superhero

      He was the hero who, at a defining moment in British history, won a brilliant victory and paid for it with his life.

As Britain commemorates the bicentenary of both an extraordinary victory and the death of its first popular hero, a new book has been published which argues that Nelson was a genius, who transformed naval warfare and who’s extraordinary leadership abilities can teach us many things today.  

Professor Andrew Lambert, Laughton Professor of Naval history at King’s College London has written a biography which takes a quote from Lord Byron as its title “Nelson, Britannia’s God of War”. In it he argues that Nelson was the complete warrior, with a grasp of tactics that transformed the way naval battles were conducted, and the courage and leadership skills to inspire loyalty not just among his followers, but upon a nation that took him to their hearts as the first great popular hero of the industrial age.

This story will feature footage of some of the recent bicentenary celebrations, including a broadside from HMS Victory and the re-enactment of the funeral flotilla that took Nelson from The Royal Naval College at Greenwich to his final resting place at St Paul’s Cathedral.