The book is divided into twenty chapters. It starts with a prologue describing Nelson's death at the height of the battle. This is followed by a chapter on the campaign leading up to Trafalgar and by chapters on the ships of the time, guns and gunnery, officers and warrant officers and petty officers and seamen in the Franch and Spanish fleets as well as the Royal Navy. There are then chapters on the orders of battle of the two fleets, with full details of each ship and its crew, and on command and control. The chapter of Trafalgar itself is divided into four sections and is followed by an account of the storm that followed and its aftermath and an epilogue on HMS Victory today. The eleven chapters outlined above alternate with nine other chapters covering Nelson's boyhood and early years in the Navy, his affair with Emma Hamilton, and the six other main actions in which he took part, from the siege of Calvi in 1794 to the Battles of the Nile and Copenhagen. There is also a chapter on Nelson's funeral, memorials and his enduring fame. Throughout, the main text is supplemented by boxes highlighting interesting anecdotes and illustrating aspects of naval life at the time.

individual ships, drawings illustrating details of how the ships were constructed and worked by their crews, maps and battle diagrams all in full colour.