I bought this book for my husband who absolutely loved it. Couldn't put it down. It's hard to find other things to appeal to him when he's such a big Patrick Obrien fan but this fit the bill. He had to keep stopping and telling me some little part he'd just read. He thought it was really a fascinating read.

The purported model for the great Patrick O'Brian hero Jack Aubrey, this biography reads like fiction. Cochrane was scarred from battle, tossed and upended in his love life, sometimes broke, and always fighting political admirals and a bureaucratic government. I would have preferred some more detail about his sea battles, but perhaps I'm spoiled by O'Brian. Some of his greatest (and longest) battles were about getting his share of his prize money from a penurious government and corrupt superiors. But this is a fine story of the classic British Navy and the brave men who sailed in harm's way.

I became interested in Thomas Cochrane after studying the wars in South America, (Chile, Peru & Brazil) in which Cochrane figured so prominently in providing leadership to their nascent navies. My first impression was that he was an adventurer and possibly a freebooter and filibuster, but he turned out to be much more than that. His fame was first earned fame as a British captain in naval actions during the Napoleonic wars, and he even took part in the Greek war for independence in the 1820s. The subtitle, "The Real Master and Commander" escaped me until I read in the Introduction that Cochrane was used as the historical figure around which the novels by O'Brian and Forester were based. Apparently the title was also the name for a novel by Henty, and has even reached popular culture in a movie by the same title. At any rate, the true historical character surely eclipses the fictional ones.

Thomas Lord Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald, was a born into a noble Scottish family with widespread contacts and influence and little money. He first went to sea under his uncle, and following the very unfair and corrupt practices of the day was rapidly advanced to Lieutenant and commander of a small sloop. He made his bones through extremely aggressive action in the Mediterranean where he captured a much larger Spanish frigate. For this and other actions he was promoted to Post Captain, and his career seemed assurred.

Then the other side of Cochrane weighed in. He rashly displeased Admiral St. Vincent, and after causing his superior at Basque Roads to undergo a courts martial, Cochrane turned many of his superiors and fellow captains against him. He entered politics and was elected to Parliment, and pursued both his political and naval career simultaneously much to the detriment of his naval career. That Cochrane possessed an immense amount of talent as a naval commander is beyond question, but he also possessed the ability to self-destruct through a definite lack of political acumen. He allied himself with political radicals and brought himself into conflict with the very conservative hierarchy of the Royal Navy to his great detriment. As a result he became involved in foreign adventures for Chile, Brazil and Greece, where in particular he was stunningly sussessful in South America and is honored today more than in Great Britain. His career easily contains the raw material for many novels.

Author Cordingly has written an excellent biography on a difficult character. The writing style enhances the narrative, and the reader turns the pages eagerly awaiting what the author has to say next. The controversies in Cochrane's life, notably his possible involvement in a fraud perpretrated by his acquaintances that resulted in a prison term, fine, and time in the stocks, was presented fairly with evidence from both sides. The author quotes from Cochrane's own writings, but is careful and thorough in his analysis. The author concludes that Cochrane was not guilty, but he also gives references of those who thought otherwise.

The maps at the beginning of the book are excellent and should be used by the reader as reference when reading the book. The approach to the subject is scholarly, and the thirty pages of end notes are valuable both for explanations and reference. The author's list of references is also thorough and undoubtedly useful for further research and reading. But the real value to this work is that the author has produced a scholarly work that will stand the examination of scholars without loading the prose with the unfathomable gobblygook so loved by academicians. This is a very readable book for average readers and laymen interested in Cochrane or naval history.

Author Cordingly has earned his five stars, and I recommend this work to all.

This review relates to the Audio MP3 edition. 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. But I will add that the quality of the reading, the consistency in volume between tracks, and the clarity of the recording are excellent.

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.