Norfolk nChance Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 (edited) Book Recommend: Nelson’s Spy? The Life of Alexander Scott https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nelsons-Spy-Life-Alexandra-Scott/dp/0954349504 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_John_Scott https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/alexander-john-scott-nelsons-secret-agent Background... I have a close friend in Hong Kong who is the direct descendant of Alexander Scott. A while back I spoke of Navel Action-OW and Waterloo and the politics of the day with our group when he reveled the ancestor and gave me this book above. His father continues to hold letters between Lord Nelson and Scott he’s also donated papers to the National Naval museum. The Book... Is based on Scotts Journals and was Published by his Daughter and Son in-law. For those interested in the more strategic elements a foot in the age of sail this gives some answers even though it’s from a one-sided point of view. My first thought on finishing this book was “Patrick O’Brian’s” Maturin character must have had inspiration here from Scott’s life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Maturin The SPY in the Age of Sail... Many of you may know already my fascination with the Intelligence community using [ELAN] & [EDARK]. The problem at the time and in fact right up until the first world war was it was frowned upon. To such an extent that Britain (The Admiralty) or France (Talleyrand) would aggressively deny its use. The James Bond character (or Syndey Riley) was not seen to be heroic at all. In fact, under hand and not really sporting but was a vital part of the war effort for both sides. Little is written on the subject and that’s why I recommend this book as its looking through the man’s eyes. A Man of God, a devoted friend to a Charismatic leader and seeing Britain’s danger must have conflicted Scott greatly... I believe it can be downloaded for FREE as well, let me know what you think Norfolk. Edited July 10, 2018 by Norfolk nChance 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Jean-Luc Picard Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 (edited) Thanks for the recommendation. Do you have any other books to recommend on spying during the age of sail? ( i already have Most Secret and Confidential: Intelligence in the Age of Nelson ) if you do not read it already you might be interested in checking out https://twitter.com/thegrugq ( he's mostly about modern world intel but it's good stuff and his feed has stuff i rarely see on specialized sites and blogs ) Edited July 10, 2018 by Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norfolk nChance Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 (edited) @Captain Jean-Luc Picard I'll pick up the book you recommend, brilliant thanks fella. It's for me an interesting area, and I believe Men of the "Church" (Catholic or Protestant) had access to high valued information. Often used as a conduit for negotiations and a deep routed Network spanning Europe. Was the Pope aligned to Napoleon's vision? If not then British Intelligence just got a massive boost... Norfolk. Edited July 11, 2018 by Norfolk nChance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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