Ein Mann is the autobiography of Joachim Nettelbeck, a Prussian sailor and citizen who became celebrated for his role in defending the fortress city of Kolberg against Napoleon’s forces in 1807. Written in German and narrated with straightforward vigor, the memoir covers a life of seafaring adventure, hardship, and civic duty spanning the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Nettelbeck became something of a popular hero in Germany, and his self-told life story was widely read and later adapted for patriotic purposes. Download this free public-domain EPUB for a vivid and authentic voice from the Age of Napoleon.