|
Welcome to the web site of multiple award-winning maritime author James L. Nelson James Nelson, a former professional sailor, is committed to bringing to life, through fiction and nonfiction, America's historical connection with the sea. His writing covers a wide range of America's maritime heritage, from piracy in Colonial Virginia to the naval action of the Civil War. A master of his period and of the English language. Patrick O'Brian on The Guardship Benedict Arnold’s Navy is an excellent book, and one worthy of its author, James L. Nelson, who has written several historical books of exceptional quality. Associated Press |
|
|
|
Winner of the 2009 Samuel Eliot Morison Award! George Washington’s Secret Navy by James L. Nelson has been selected as the 2009 recipient of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for excellence in naval literature. The Morison Award is presented annually by the Naval Order of the United States to the author “who by his published writings has made a substantial contribution to the preservation of the history and traditions of the United States Navy.” In making the announcement, William Schmidt, Commander of the New York Commandery of the Naval Order said: “This book illuminates a series of little known yet crucial events during the early stages of the American Revolution. It sheds new and badly needed light on the naval component of the War of Independence, a subject often neglected by historians.” The Samuel Eliot Morison Award is one of the top prizes given to works of naval history. James L. Nelson is also the 2004 winner of the American Library Association/William Young Boyd Award, the top national award for works of military fiction. |
|
George Washington's Secret Navy: How the American Revolution Went to Sea "Mr. Nelson takes an episode that occupies no more than a few paragraphs in other histories of the Revolution and, with convincing research and vivid narrative style, turned it into an important, marvelously readable book." Thomas Fleming, author of The Perils of Peace and Liberty!
This is a rollicking tale of Washington’s seafaring rascals who pricked Britannia’s trident, and set an example of courage and patriotism that would eventually lead to independence. William M. Fowler, Jr. author of Rebels Under Sail |
For more information and to read the first chapter, click on George Washington's Secret Navy Now Available in trade paperback! |
|
James L. Nelson at the Pritzker Military Library On March 14, James L. Nelson presented a talk at the Prizker Military Library in Chicago, IL. The entire talk is available as a podcast or to view on line at the Pritzker Military Library's web site.
|
|
| This picture was recently sent to me, and I loved it so much
it had to go on the home page. If you can't read the sign, it says "James L.
Nelson Reading Club, Fallujah, Iraq, 2007." The man on the far right is
David Nelson (coincidentally, the same name as my father) from Houston,
Texas. He e-mailed me from Iraq to say that he had just read The Pirate
Round and enjoyed it, and was happy for the break it offered from
everything else going on around him. Thinking these guys deserved a break where they could get one, I boxed up a bunch of other books and sent them off. David rewarded me with this great picture of these guys reading my books in Iraq! I particularly love the "No pictures! No cameras!" sign. |
 |
 |
Here's another great picture sent to me by a reader in Iraq.
This is Sgt. Dean Epley in a place that seems to have a lot of sand.
I offered to send Sgt. Epley some copies of The Biddlecomb Series in Italian,as I seem to have a lot of those and am never sure what to do with them. Unfortunately he doesn't read Italian, but I assured him I'd get some books in English sent his way. I hope he has more free time to read than this picture would suggest. I think this is great! We should get a whole gallery going here. |
| Also: See the new Speaker Page below for information on having James L. Nelson speak at your event. We have revamped out Latest News Page. For the latest publication information and other things of interest, , click on the new and improved The Latest News. Signed and inscribed books are now offered for sale via this web site. Click on Book Sales to find out more. Check the Events Schedule page for upcoming Author Events |
Everything goes by the board: humor, pride, decency...to get the book written. If a writer has to rob his mother,
he will not hesitate; the Ode on a Grecian Urn is worth any number of old ladies.
William Faulkner