FBF: Peter Moore, A Dangerous Game

In 1826, Thomas Cochrane – naval hero, political radical and inspiration for Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey – called at Falmouth aboard the Unicorn, bound for the Mediterranean and another characteristically audacious adventure. Already a celebrated naval commander, disgraced politician and convicted fraudster, he was preparing to throw himself into the Greek struggle for independence.

Cochrane’s life was more extraordinary than the fiction it inspired. A daring hero of the Napoleonic Wars, he became renowned for attacks of astonishing ingenuity and nerve, most famously his explosive assault on the French fleet at the Basque Roads. On land, he was an outspoken radical MP whose career was almost destroyed by his conviction for Stock Exchange fraud. After escaping from prison, he reinvented himself as a revolutionary admiral, helping Chile, Peru, Brazil and Greece challenge imperial rule.

Yet behind the legend was a complicated, combative and frequently self-destructive man who seemed incapable of living cautiously.

In a town whose harbour once connected Britain with the wider maritime world through which Cochrane sailed and fought, bestselling historian Peter Moore tells the astonishing story of a man who played every part of his life as a dangerous game.

FBF: Peter Moore, A Dangerous Game

Sat 24th October 4.00pm

Tickets: £7.00/£10.00

A £1 Poly Fund payment is added to each ticket sold. A 50p booking fee is also applied per ticket for online and telephone transactions.