Nelson - the New Letters - Softcover

The maritime history world is fortunate.that we now have [Nelson's] de facto autobiography. AUSMARINE

Winner of the 2006 Distinguished Book Award for Biography/Memoir, from the Society for Military History (US): "an outstanding contribution to military history".
Outstandingly good. THE GUARDIAN
Riveting. The admiral that emerges is open, engaged, alive; he writes as one imagines he spoke. THE ECONOMIST
Colin White...successfully reminds us why the memory of Nelson and his achievements has endured. THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS
Impressively wide-ranging.... A Nelson fan's delight. DAILY EXPRESS
In so far as Admiral Nelson has a representative on earth it is Colin White. SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
[An] important addition to the printed Nelson sources [by] perhaps the best-known "Nelsonian" of our day. TLS
These letters reveal the reality of genius in action. Andrew Lambert, ARCHIVES

Nelson was a letter writer of great flair and somehow, between his naval service and recovering from various illnesses and wounds and, of course, despite his famously tangled love-life, he managed to write an extraordinary number of them, on all subjects and addressed to all manner of recipients. This widely-praised volume collects together over 500 of those letters, dating from 1777 to just days before the Battle of Trafalgar that would seal both his fate and his fame. They range from detailed battle orders to passionate love letters, from the business of securing - or giving - patronage to diplomatic reports for kings, queens, politicians and dignitaries. All aspects of Nelson's life are covered here, particularly his seldom-glimpsed family life, so that the reader cannot fail to see him in a new light. Nor can any reader fail to marvel at the combination of traits that made the man great: his brilliant leadership and organisation, his daring and ruthless military mind and, not least, his very real compassion, even for his enemies. Dr COLIN WHITE was Director of the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth, UK. One of Britain's leading naval historians, he was recognised worldwide as an authority on Nelson. In 2005, he was the mastermind behind the hugely successful 'Trafalgar Festival', for which he was awarded the Longman-History Today Trustees Prize. Published in association with the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Naval Museum.