The Nelson Touch: The Life and Legend of Horatio Nelson

by Terry Coleman

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 , novelist Terry Coleman provides a superb portrait of Britain's most revered naval figure.
Here is a vivid account of Nelson's life, from his childhood and early career at sea--where a high-placed uncle helped speed his advancement to post captain--to gripping accounts of his greatest sea battles. Readers will witness the Battle of the Nile, where Nelson crushed a French squadron of thirteen ships of the line, and the Battle of Trafalgar, where he died at the moment of his greatest triumph. What emerges is a man of strength of mind amounting to genius, frequently generous, always fascinated with women, often uneasy with his superior officers, and absolutely fearless. Nelson was a ruthless commander, whose instinct was not just to defeat the enemy but to annihilate him.

Sure to appeal to readers of Patrick O'Brian and other seafaring fiction, as well as all military history and naval history buffs, this is a superbly written biography that gives readers the texture and feel of this magnificent life.

Genres: History, Biography, Military History, Nonfiction, British Literature

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Terry Coleman was born in Bournemouth, England, went to fourteen schools, and then studied English and law at the Universities of Exeter and London. As a foreign correspondent for The Guardian and the London Daily Mail, he has traveled to forty-six countries, three times circumnavigated the world, and interviewed everyone from the former Cassius Clay to the Dalai Lama.

Reviews

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you humanize a person who has been raised to the level of a God, sometimes it isn't attractive. This is one such case. In attempting to rip the mask of the legend and find the man, what is left is a description of a person I wouldn't want on my staff. Nelson appears to be self serving, egotistical, and clearly full of himself. He didn't seem to know how to follow orders or take direction, and seems to have come to his fame more by dumb luck and self promotion than by anything else. While I found the read interesting, the person that was discribed is someone I wouldn't like professionally or personally.

[Josh Ehrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

An honest accounting of a major historical figure. The author holds no punches when calling out Nelson’s sins or naval mistakes but gives credit where due.

[Freddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read considering the opaqueness of the legend of Nelson. Despite the heroic status that his character has achieved throughout England and other parts of the world, this book delves deep into the dark side of his personality and accomplishments. Although he was an incredibly effective military leader for England, this book reveals the cruelty and petulant behavior that he often displayed. The sunlit legend that his been passed down through generations is challenged with realism in this book.

[David R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't read this if you are interested in specific naval actions of which Lord Nelson was a part (The Nile, Copenhagan, Trafalgar), and don't read this if you idolize the great Admiral. This is a character study and Nelson doesn't do so well here. Coleman makes more than clear the perspective that Horatio Nelson comes up short both in naval leadership and character. In the former case we find a highly aggressive commander who took terrible risks and got lucky when it counted. His behavior in Naples and Panama even suggested great foolishness was at work. And in terms of character, Nelson is painted as despicable: abandoning his wife and father, treating friends with treachery, and otherwise putting himself before all.

[Jamie Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unflattering portrait of Lord Nelson, summed up by the quote printed at the end, from Earl St Vincent: "Animal courage was the sole merit of Lord Nelson, his private character being most disgraceful, in every sense of the word."

The book is sparse as a biography, being mostly concerned with examining those controversial issues which have been misreported in earlier hagiographies. The author speaks of Nelson's charisma most unconvincingly, so that it is very difficult to imagine why he was such a beloved figure. And Lady Hamilton seems perfectly wretched.

The prose is readable, if not riveting, and not without an occasional touch of humor.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good biography of Nelson's life. Admiral Horatio Nelson has been a hero of mine since I was young. After reading this it's evident that he had some serious flaws, but that does not take away from his accomplishments as a naval warrior.

[Wachlin007 Hotmail · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great biography on Horatio Nelson. It talks about his successes but also discusses his flaws. I thought it was a fair biography.

[Kirk Bower · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Takes through Nelson's growing up through the life at sea. Doesn't sugar-coat it either.

[David Eppenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good biography of Admiral Nelson and the British Navy of his time. Good book for Age of Sail fans.

[Nente · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly an iconoclast biography, though Coleman states in his introduction that it wasn't his intention at the start. Pay attention to that word Legend in the subtitle: that is exactly what the greater part of the book deals with, digging up the sources for the legend and showing where exactly it's been whitewashed, distorted, or just made up from nothing. And it is well-researched, with pages and pages of bibliography and notes.
Another bonus is that it's not required that you have the history of the period at your fingertips (though of course, if you are taking up a book about Nelson, you should know who he was): the author is quite adept at peppering his text with hints about who this or that personage was/was going to become, etc.
I personally, not being British, never had an idealized image of Nelson; I've read the Southey biography, which Coleman calls a hagiography, but even that one made me, in places, suspect something wasn't right: Southey really protested too much. If I remember rightly he'd even supported the "Horatia Thompson" fiction.
Coleman's work certainly looks like a sincere attempt at painting the real man behind the hero (look, I didn't go to check the sources, all right?). The merits and faults of Nelson the commander stem from one source: furious desire to win, both for his country and for himself. The faults of Nelson the man are numerous, as I think most people did already suspect.
There's just one aspect of this comprehensive portrait I have issues with. What of his professional capacity as a captain, not as a leader of the fleet? Surely I've met (in fiction) with lots of practical seamanship ideas, claiming to descend directly from famous Nelson? Of course that could have been just a part of the legend. On the other hand, it might not. That was left completely untouched in this whole book. When commenting on the technical terms about ship, Coleman states he's been trying to avoid them as much as possible, as he is no seaman himself. It's just a pity that deprived him of the possibility to explore another side of Nelson, and an important one.