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The Journal of Military History 67.2 (2003) 565-566



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The Nelson Encyclopedia. By Colin White. Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2002. ISBN 0-8117-0013-5. Maps. Illustrations. Appendixes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. 288. $39.95.

Colin White, of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, has produced a beautifully illustrated and well written guide to the literature and lore of Nelson and his times that will be a useful addition to any naval library. The introduction is concise and informative. The headings are entertaining and cover the usual questions about Nelson's life and times, such as the victories he is famous for—Cape St. Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar—defeats that are often overlooked like the attacks on Turk's Island (1783) and Tenerife (1798), and the Battle of Boulogne (1801)—the most notable ships, for one reason or another, that he commanded, Albemarle, Boreas, and Agamemnon—and most of those which wore his pendant or flag.

This is familiar ground to those brought up to toast the "immortal memory"—the history of which custom is among the entries—but the sketches of the men and women in Nelson's life are fresh, and so are some of the asides that Colin White utters. Under "The Nelson Touch" for instance, in discussing how the term originated, he notes the usual reference to Shakespear's Henry V ("a little touch of Harry in the night"), then draws our attention to a letter from Nelson to Emma Hamilton, reminding her of the 'Nelson Touch,' "which we say, is warranted never to fail," suggesting the phrase "originated as a lovers' sexual joke" (p. 239). Of more significance, White reproduces the newly discovered aide mémoire, recently revealed by him in the Mariner's Mirror, on the reverse of which is the only known prebattle diagram of what materialised at Trafalgar.

White manages to capture the true pathos of Nelson's life, with entries, for example, concerning health and wounds, and his constant presentiment of death (including his attachment to the coffin made for him by Benjamin [End Page 565] Hallowell). Nelson's physical suffering was pitiable—not unique (eighteenth century men in all walks of life learned to live with afflictions that were beyond relief by medical treatment of the day)—but endured with stoicism that is the stuff of legend. Generous appraisals of Fanny Nelson: "She has been unfairly blamed for the break up of the marriage" (p. 188), and Emma Hamilton: "It is [her] misfortune that many of her biographers have been men" (p. 146) reflect modern scholarship.

A somewhat surprising omission is any reference to John Harbron's very good study of the Spanish fleet at Trafalgar, and a mention of the impact of the Trafalgar campaign on strategic and tactical debate at the time of the first centenary of Nelson's death surely would not have been amiss. This is nevertheless a desirable and necessary addition to the literature marking the second centenary, and will serve readers well, no doubt until the third centenary.

 



W. A. B. Douglas
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

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