Every year, on October 21st, the Royal Navy celebrates Admiral Nelson’s most famous victory, near Trafalgar in 1805 when 27 British Royal Naval ships defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet of 33 warships.  But, what if Nelson had lost? And how can we celebrate this night? I draw upon three books: ‘The Rise and Fall of the British Empire’ by Lawrence James ‘Empire of the Seas: How the Navy Forged the Modern World’ by Brian Lavery‘HMS Victory’ by Peter GoodwinI also recommend the movie ‘Master and Commander’ (2003), the TV show Hornblower (1998-2003), and the classic clip (on Youtube) of John Noakes cleaning Nelson’s Column for the children’s TV show ‘Blue Peter’.  My ‘Recommended Rabbit Hole’: Lord Cochrane.  Just start with Google, see where it takes you, and let me know if you found it as fascinating as I do.  This is an annual celebration and commemoration, so this episode is a rerelease from October 21st, last year.  You can e-mail me: [email protected] You can find me on Instagram: @FlemingNeverDies *** Subscribe to my newsletter: https://youtube.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=b3afdae99897eebbf8ca022c8&id=5165536616 Check out my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/britishculture Check out my online shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/British-culture/shop Support the show Support the show