The Nelson Touch: The Life and Legend of Horatio Nelson

by Terry Coleman

Book Overview

Admiral Horatio Nelson captures our imaginations like few other military figures. A mixture of tactical originality, raw courage, cruelty, and romantic passion, Nelson in action was daring and direct, a paramount naval genius and a natural born predator. Now, in The Nelson Touch: The Life and Legend of Horatio Nelson, novelist Terry Coleman provides a superb portrait of Britain's most revered naval figure.
Here is a vivid account of Nelson's life,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195147413
• ISBN13: 9780195147414
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 472 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 9.4" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

One of the better biographies on Admiral Nelson

Novelist and historian Terry Coleman's "The Nelson Touch" may be regarded as the first of the three great biographies of Admiral Nelson published in the first decade of the 21st Century. However, in stark contrast to John Sugden's monumental two volume work (The second volume is in preparation, covering the period from 1797 to 1805, when Nelson had his greatest triumphs and defeats.) and Roger Knight's biography published last year, Coleman's extensively researched tome reads more like a negative "Cliff Notes" review of the admiral's life, focusing on Nelson's career in the 1790s and 1800s, devoting as much time to the great British admiral's flaws as well as his successes. Indeed, I suspect that the title "The Nelson Touch" is a bit misleading, since Coleman doesn't dwell much on those facets of Nelson's personality which made him into an inspirational naval commander well respected - if not loved - by his celebrated "band of brothers" such as Captains Berry, Hallowell, Hardy and Hoste, and Admirals Collingwood and Hood. Speaking of which, to my utter amazement, there is not much for the reader to discern regarding Nelson's strong ties to fellow officers such as Captains Berry and Hardy and especially, Admiral Collingwood. Only Rear Admiral Troubridge is discussed at any length, and it is more from the perspective of Nelson's perceived rivalry with Troubridge dating from the latter's appointment to the Admiralty in 1801, than the close comradeship which had developed while serving together in the Mediterranean Sea during the 1790s. Yet Coleman's negative appraisal of Nelson's life and career is important for two major reasons. First it demonstrates convincingly how disastrous Nelson's conduct was at Naples in 1799, condoning acts which would be charitably described as running counter to the spirit, if not the actual letter, of dignified conduct against the enemy; in other words, Nelson acted as a war criminal. How, you might ask? He abrogated a treaty signed by one of his subordinates and representatives of Naples's Republican government and misled defending Neapolitan and French troops holding out in impregnable forts near the city who had been guaranteed safe conduct to Toulon, but instead, found themselves sent via safe conduct only to the gallows. He also arranges for the summary execution of the Neapolitan naval officer in charge of the city's defense, who had become a close colleague and friend of Nelson's, before switching his loyalty to the Republican government. Coleman also delves deeply into Nelson's relationship with Emma Hamilton, demonstrating how it evolved slowly into a passionate love affair, beginning innocently enough via Emma's diplomatic work on behalf of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies's Bourbon royal family. At any rate, Coleman's fine scholarship puts to rest any notion that theirs was love at first sight. Despite my own misgivings regarding Coleman's coverage, I still strongly recommend this book as an excellent biography o

Fun read

I don't feel outraged that Coleman's treatment of Nelson is harsh. Why make Nelson something he wasn't: a saint.

What's wrong with saying that Nelson was not perfect?

I notice that Joel Hayward's new book also points out Nelson's flaws as a warrior and as a captain and as an officer. Maybe Hayward wrote it all in a more balance way, and with more context, but he still said similar things to Mr Coleman. Yet Coleman seems to have been singled out for criticism for merely showing that Nelson was human and used his legal disciplinary rights more often than we assumed. Big deal. He was a great admiral but just a man.

A highly negative view of Nelson

Coleman has written a highly negative biography of Nelson that stresses Nelson's faults while ignoring his accomplishments. Coleman believes that Nelson was engaged in war crimes at Naples since he decieved the rebels with a truce and than slaughtered them. Also Nelson bluffed his way to victory at Coopenhagen by overstating his strength to the Danish king in order to achieve a truce. Finally Coleman is critical of the way that Nelson treated his first wife with his affair with Emma Hamilton. Even though this is a highly negative biography of Nelson it is highly readable.

Oh, come on! This IS a good book.

I don't think reviewers and critics are being entirely fair to Mr Coleman. This book is carefully researched, sound, and well written. So what's the problem?I think Nelson's more ardent fans hate the fact that Coleman has done to the admiral what historian Alan Schom did to Napoleon: de-mythologise him. Present him as a human, not a demi-god.Now, I confess that Nelson's among my own favorite heroes from history. And I simply loved Joel Hayward's "For God and Glory: Lord Nelson and his way of War", which may well be the best book on Nelson's combat and leadership abilities and techniques written in several decades. So you would think, then, that I would be offended by Coleman's potrayal of Nelson. But I'm not. You see, humans aren't entirely good. Except maybe for Christ, Bhudda, Muhammad, Mother Theresa, etc. We are both good and bad. Nelson, even in Coleman's book, was mostly good, and only sometimes vain, silly, brutal, wicked, etc.Is it unfair to say that. Of course not. And Coleman certainly does not present Nelson as a monster like Stalin. I encourage readers to read this book, AND those by Carola Oman, Colin White, Tom Pocock and Joel Hayward. These are the best Nelson books, and will give all-round fair treatments of a flawed by nonetheless great Englishman.