Following Nelson's victory at the Nile he is feted at home as the greatest hero ever. Further victories against the French raise his popularity with the public at large to fever pitch. But at court Nelson's ego and his love for Emma Hamilton, seen as little more than a whore by the courtiers surrounding George III, dog his progress. Only in death will he finally be accepted at the heart of society.

Following both Nelson's exceptional career and the spirited progress of Emma, this is a story of talent and character overcoming tradition and expectation; a story of a society on the cusp of the liberal 18th and conservative 19th centuries and the fate of two people caught in the middle of the change. From arctic ice floe to Neapolitan courtroom, from single-ship actions in the dank English Channel to fleet actions in the mouth of the Nile, this is the story of a great hero, a doomed love affair and a war that stretched across the world.