NELSON, HORATIO NELSON, VISCOUNT

born Sept. 29, 1758, Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, Eng. died Oct. 21, 1805, at sea, off Cape Trafalgar, Spain in full Horatio Nelson, Viscount Nelson of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe, also called (179798) Sir Horatio Nelson, or (17981801) Baron Nelson of the Nile and Burnham Thorpe British naval commander in the wars with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, who won crucial victories in such battles as those of the Nile (1798) and of Trafalgar (1805), where he was killed by enemy fire on the HMS Victory. In private life he was known for his extended love affair with Emma, Lady Hamilton, while both were married. Additional reading Robert Southey, The Life of Nelson (1813, reissued 1969), one of the first and the most reliable of the many biographies, treats with delicacy the more intimate aspects of Nelson's private life. A.T. Mahan, The Life of Nelson, the Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain, 2nd ed. rev. (1899, reissued 1969), is a biographical study by the American naval historian. Carola Oman, Nelson (1946, reissued 1970), a perceptive and intelligent biography, is accurate and well written. Oliver Warner, A Portrait of Lord Nelson (1958, reissued 1987), is a good study, written with personal and professional understanding. Geoffrey Bennett, Nelson the Commander (1972), relates the admiral's career to the naval practice of his own and later times. Christopher Lloyd, Nelson and Sea Power (1973), is an introduction to his life and influences. A recent, more popular biography is David Howarth and Stephen Howarth, Nelson: The Immortal Memory (1988, also published as Lord Nelson, 1989).