the years immediately after the American Revolution in the broad context of his earlier and later career- in which, as Admiral Callo, who is an advisor to NMHS, has pointed out in earlier works o n Nelson, this British naval hero "changed history from the decks of his ships. " In a style we have come to expect from Callo's pen, the events of these brief years of Nelson's Caribbean command are set in the context of the Royal Navy's dominance at sea and the burgeoning economic and industrial might ofBritain riding the first wave of the industrial revolution , born of British enterpri se and industry. He is a small cog in a mighty world engine. Leading his small squadron in the 28gun frigate Boreas, Nelson imm edia tely set to work to wipe out the illicit trade of Britain's West Indian colonies with the American repub lic to the north. Th is trade, which violated Britain's restri ctive Navigation Laws, was actually essential to the island plantations, both for vital American supplies and access to the rich American market. Nelson's laser-like focus on his duty to uphold existing law, however unreaso nable, was to prove nearly fatal to his career, sin ce he was sent ashore on half-pay when his three-year tour was done, due to th e enem ies he'd made. Another thing happened to Nelson: he got married. H is new wife wi ll not sail back to England in Nelson's fri gate, de m anding separate transport; once in England she finds smoky London intolerable. Callo reco unts Nelson's previous loves, including o ne in his previous station, in Canada, he was ready to quit the navy to be with. H e seems to do nothing by halves. Th is time he chooses more soberly but, it seems, not very happily, leaving this impetuous, passionate man wide open for Lady Hamilton when she comes along later, in the Mediterranean. Callo helps us see Nelson wholly, and to find in th e man the emerging characteristics that made Nelson the world's most fa mous admiral. A useful chrono logy helps one fo llow the author's trail as h e tells us how those traits played out in historymaking this study of deep human val ue as well as naval interest. PS The Nelson Touch: The Life and Legend of Horatio Nelson, by Terry Coleman (Oxford University Press, Oxford UK and New
SEA HISTORY 102, AUTUMN 2002
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