Knight, Roger

(R.J.B. Knight)

PERSONAL: Married. Education: University of Dublin, M.A.; University of Sussex, P.G.C.E.; University of London, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Office—Greenwich Maritime Institute, University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, Park Row, Greenwich, London SE10 9LS, England.

CAREER: Maritime scholar. Greenwich Maritime Institute, Greenwich, England, visiting professor; National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England, former deputy director. Member, British Commission for Maritime History.

MEMBER: Society for Nautical Research (former vice president), Royal Historical Society (fellow), Navy Records Society (former vice president).

WRITINGS:

Valuing English: Reflections on the National Curriculum, David Fulton Publishers (London, England), 1996.

The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson, Basic Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Also author of scholarly maritime history books under name R.J.B. Knight; member of editorial board for journals, including Mariner's Mirror and Journal for Maritime Research; consulting editor for the Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History.

SIDELIGHTS: Roger Knight has devoted a large part of his life to maritime history and archival research. His experience ranges from a number of British and international maritime organizations, museums, and universities. His 2005 publication, The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson, is a biography of British Admiral Horatio Nelson, who first achieved notoriety by defeating Napoleon's fleet during the Battle of the Nile in 1798 and the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, when Nelson was killed.

Comparing the book to other biographies on Nelson, a reviewer in Publishers Weekly stated that "Knight's book may be the best." The same reviewer went on to note that the author "paints a vivid picture," making all the details clear in this "highly readable, authoritative, and deeply satisfying biography." A reviewer for the Economist similarly felt that "there is every reason to think that this superb work will become the definitive Nelson biography."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 2005, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Pursuit of Victory: The Life and Achievement of Horatio Nelson, p. 17.

Bookseller, June 17, 2005, review of The Pursuit of Victory, p. 38.

Economist, June 25, 2005, review of The Pursuit of Victory, p. 83.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2005, review of The Pursuit of Victory, p. 1123.

Publishers Weekly, October 31, 2005, review of The Pursuit of Victory, p. 46.

Times Literary Supplement, September 23, 2005, N.A.M. Rodger, review of The Pursuit of Victory.

Weekly Standard, October 24, 2005, Henrik Bering, review of The Pursuit of Victory, p. 35.

ONLINE

Greenwich Maritime Institute Web site, http://www.gre.ac.uk/ (March 2, 2006), profile of Roger Knight.