Nelson - The New Letters - by Colin White (Paperback)

About the Book

One of the most acclaimed Nelson books of recent years, this collection presents over 500 letters which record his life and exploits in his own words.

Book Synopsis

Presents over 500 of the most important letters uncovered during the course of the epic Nelson Letters project, a five-year search of archives round the world.

Nelson - The New Letters, edited by Colin White, presents around 500 of the most important letters uncovered during the course of the epic Nelson Letters Project, a five year search of archives throughout the world.
Dating from 1777 and including the earliest extant Nelson letter, this collection shows us both Nelson the officer and Nelson the private man, and, uniquely among the plethora of new Nelson books, it records his life and exploitsin his own words.
Written in Nelson's free-flowing and conversational style, these letters introduce a very real and human figure bringing us much closer to an otherwise distant historical hero. Colin White's accompanying annotations and essays place Nelson's life and letters in full context.
So alongside letters to the Duke of Clarence (later King William IV), Prime Minister Addington, and dignitaries like the King and Queen of Naples, covering treaty negotiations, battle orders and campaign plans, we can also read warm missives to family and friends, informal notes and instructions to colleagues and subordinates and some eloquently passionate letters to Emma Hamilton.
Other highlights include Nelson's account of the Battle of Copenhagen; detailed orders for the Trafalgar and Nile campaigns; notes of his careful diplomatic negotiations; his network of personal contacts; and his concern with his public image.
In the Maritime Foundation's 2005 Media Awards, Nelson - The New Letters was short-listed for the Mountbatten Maritime Prize, and Dr White was short-listed for the Desmond Wettern Maritime Media Award.
Dr COLIN WHITE was Director of the Royal Naval Museum. In an extraordinarily busy 2005 he was also Director of Trafalgar 200, guest curator of the acclaimed Nelson and Napoleon exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, chaired the Official Nelson Commemorations Committee, and gave dozens of talks on Nelson throughout the country and North America. He was also the author of The Nelson Encyclopaedia The Nelson Companion, and 1797: Nelson's Year of Destiny.

Review Quotes

Adds a new dimension. [...] This is the closest we will ever get to reading Horatio Nelson's autobiography.-- "EASTERN DAILY PRESS"

By any standards, Nelson The New Letters is a distinguished scholarly achievement....Colin [White] has done real service, including printing riches which are still not in the public domain...[he] is a judicious and widely-read editor and he presents his chosen letters with explanation and caution.-- "THE TRAFALGAR CHRONICLE"

Impressively wide-ranging.... A Nelson fan's delight and a welcome addition.-- "DAILY EXPRESS"

In so far as Admiral Nelson has a representative on earth it is Colin White. [...]-- "SUNDAY TELEGRAPH"

In Nelson - The New Letters Colin White has brought to life a treasure-trove of 1,200 letters, creating a virtual Nelson autobiography.-- "SEAFARER, the Journal of the Marine Society"

In Trafalgar's bicentennial year, there have been several Nelson biographies, but no book about this authentic English hero could surpass the fascination of Nelson's own words...faithfully edited by one of our pre-eminent naval scholars, this compulsive volume paints a picture of the man in all his astonishing complexity.--Robert McCrum "OBSERVER"

Nelson's character and conduct, his tactical ideas and strategic insight emerge from his correspondence, in essence in the form of autobiography.....White has served his subject well.-- "COUNTRY LIFE"

Standing far above the bicentenary fanfare...White has significantly added to our understanding of Nelson's tempestuous personality.-- "MAIL ON SUNDAY"

Striking....revealing....gives a sharp insight....[the] letters give a distinct sense of how Nelson was able to inspire so high a degree of loyalty and devotion.....this is a work very much for scholars.-- "MARINER'S MIRROR"

There is much fresh evidence here to illustrate Nelson's virtuosity as a leader.-- "INDEPENDENT"

They are coruscatingly vivid letters, alive with bright expressiveness. [...] On important matters, he writes with gripping verve; the letters giving accounts of engagements, especially those to the Duke of Clarence, are extraordinarily exciting. [...] This is an important addition which the general reader shouldn't overlook.-- "SPECTATOR"

[An] important addition to the printed Nelson sources [by] perhaps the best-known 'Nelsonian' of our day.-- "TLS"

Colin White...successfully reminds us why the memory of Nelson and his achievements has endured.-- "THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS"