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Nelson and Emma Trilogy

The Nelson and Emma trilogy fictionalises the parallel lives of Horatio Nelson and Emma Hamilton from their difficult beginnings to the height of Nelson’s naval fame. It follows his formation in the Royal Navy and her ascent from poverty through modelling, patronage and marriage into the diplomatic society of Naples.

Their stories converge amid the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Naval victories, physical injury, marriage and public scandal make their relationship inseparable from Britain’s struggle with France, carrying the narrative from Nelson’s first service to Trafalgar.

Reading order

Books in this series (3 books)

On a Making Tide cover

1. On a Making Tide

David Donachie

4.4(41)

Horatio Nelson enters the Royal Navy as a twelve-year-old midshipman and learns command through hardship, illness and service during the American Revolutionary War. In parallel, Emma Lyon escapes domestic service and begins using beauty, performance and patronage to rise through Georgian society. The novel follows their…

Tested by Fate cover

2. Tested by Fate

David Donachie

4.7(4)

In 1784, Nelson sails to the Caribbean to enforce the Navigation Acts and marries the widowed Fanny Nisbet. His return to war brings battles at Cape St Vincent, Tenerife and the Nile, winning fame while leaving permanent physical and emotional injuries. Emma Lyon becomes the mistress…

Breaking the Line cover

3. Breaking the Line

David Donachie

4.9(16)

After the Battle of the Nile, Nelson becomes a national hero and helps the Bourbon court recover Naples. His attachment to Emma Hamilton is now public enough to trouble the Admiralty and to complicate his standing at court and within his own family. The story follows…