244. Trafalgar: Countdown to Annihilation

In the second episode of Tom and Dominic's Trafalgar trilogy, the stakes could not be higher. They discuss: Napoleon's plan to invade Britain (and the possible repercussions if he did); what developments in naval technology meant for the British and Spanish/French allies; and Nelson's own life, legacy, and strategy to "annihilate the enemy".
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[@tommonk7651]

Hollywood missed the boat (sorry) when they did no Master and Commander sequels....

[@cthornton523]

Loved the intro.

[@ThegalacticusShow]

Excellent as usual

[@MrMarccj]

A little trivia, Lord Nelson's wife is buried in the 11th century Church (yard) in the village I grew up in. She has a little fence around her grave and a tree next to it which, during my childhood, a Tawny Owl lived in. My older brother used to climb up the tree and steal the owl eggs. He'd then make two little holes in the egg and blow out the inners. Pre-enlightenment, people would steal eggs, eat the centre and throw away the shells. Post-enlightenment, people steal eggs, throw away the centres and keep the shells.

[@miguelmarques4583]

I would make suggestions for the series about brazilian history, is it okay to send an email? Is it there that listener suggestions are read?

[@arden8290]

Wellington is another British hero.

[@leinsterfan1802]

Born in Dublin 😂

[@unbabunga229]

@@leinsterfan1802Ironic you say something so uninformed about history, on a history channel

[@leinsterfan1802]

@@unbabunga229 So he wasn't born in Dublin? 🤨

[@unbabunga229]

@@leinsterfan1802 but you’re implying wasn’t British

[@davidcoleman2796]

Nelson was a British hero but we must not forget that he sacrificed his own men all through his career just to get ahead. More men died under his command than any other Admiral or general at the time . For God sake , he kept on getting himself wounded . Losing a eye, arm . Then his own life . He was also a war criminal. He turned over prisoners to be executed after giving his word he would not do so . England was fighting for a mad king! They were not free . France was fighing for freedom. That is history also .

[@cuebj]

Neither French nor British were fighting for freedom for the common man and woman. France under Napoleon was under a despot f a new kind. Britain was primarily fighting on behalf of a constitutional monarch, the landed gentry descendants of 1066 but, also, a new type of market capitalist economy. Britain fighting for freedom to dominate world trade and profits. France under revolution was, to some extent, defending itself from the old monarchies who had seen their relatives lost to the guillotine, but, under Napoleon, it was like Stalin's Russia, Hitler's Germany, and so on

[@cuebj]

He put himself and his men in harm's way. That was his job. He also made sure his men were as well fed, well trained, and healthy as possible so that they could kill the enemy as efficiently as possible while losing as few as possible of his highly trained men. You don't waste such a resource as well trained men. Presumably, he'd have been as effective for whatever regime he was born within and wherever he was born

[@shakthidhasan4544]

Very English Frenchman...not many around.