Biographical contentions: Barry Unsworth's Losing Nelson

Barry Unsworth's Losing Nelson , published in 1999, was the author's response to his publisher's suggestion that he write a biography of Horatio Nelson to commemorate the bicentenary of Trafalgar. The novel is narrated by the sociopathic Charles Cleasby who, endeavouring to produce a hagiography, experiences writer's block when he reaches the events at Naples in 1799. By placing the novel in counterpoint to the three most significant commemorative biographies, this article reflects on ‘the cult of Nelson’ and the precarity of creating and worshipping heroes.