Losing Nelson
Author(s): Barry Unsworth
Losing Nelson is a novel of obsession, the story of Charles Cleasby, a man unable to see himself separately from the hero--Lord Horatio Nelson--he mistakenly idolizes. He is, in fact, a Nelson biographer run amok. He is convinced that Nelson, Britain's greatest admiral, who lost his own life defeating Napoleon in the Battle of Trafalgar, is the perfect hero. However, in his research he has come upon an incident of horrifying brutality in Nelson's military career that simply stumps all attempts at glorification. "Books about the sea and those who sail it are much in vogue. This seems to have been set off by the surprising and much deserved popularity of Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm, not to mention the Aubrey/Maturin novels of Patrick O'Brian. . . . Losing Nelson is] the best book of the lot."--Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World (1999 Critic's Choice). A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1999; A New York Times Notable Book of 1999. Reading group guide available.
General Information
- :
- : Random House
- : Windmill Books
- : 0.23
- : 06 September 2012
- : United Kingdom
- : 01 September 2012
- : books
Other Specifications
- : Barry Unsworth
- : Paperback
- : English
- : 823.9/14
- : 320
More About The Product
"It is accomplished, effective, exciting, and intelligent ... information is cunningly deployed, the pace is controlled: the mood of zealous desperation is heightened from page to page" -- Hilary Mantel Sunday Times "Wonderful" -- Barbara Trapido Independent on Sunday "Ingenious ... richly informative and sardonically entertaining" -- Books of the year Sunday Times "This truly excellent novel delves deep into the tragic side of hero-worship and heroism, and is a work of pathos and power" Guardian "Masterly" Evening Standard
Barry Unsworth was born in 1930 in Durham. He was the author of many novels, including Pascali's Island, which was shortlisted for the 1980 Booker Prize; Stone Virgin (1985); Sacred Hunger, which was joint winner of the 1992 Booker Prize; Morality Play, which was shortlisted for the 1995 Booker Prize; Losing Nelson (1999); The Songs of the King (2002); The Ruby in Her Navel (2006); Land of Marvels (2009); and The Quality of Mercy (2011), which was shortlisted for The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction. Barry Unsworth died in 2012.
