I highly recommend Robert Harvey's book "Lord Cochrane: The Life and Exploits of a Fighting Captain." ALthough others have written about Cochrane, this recent book is pretty full of detail -- truth is very much stranger than fiction: not even Monty Python could have thought up a story where Bernardo ... O'Higgins (son of a Viceroy to Peru) takes the services of an out of work sea captain and helps to liberate Peru. The "Sea Wolf" as he has been called, is worthy of his own movie!

Cheers,

Brian