Sir William Hamilton is perhaps best-remembered for those lives adjacent to his own. British Ambassador to the court of Naples at the time of the rise of Napoleon, he could count European monarchs amongst his friends. His claim to a place in history, however, comes from his involvement in the most notorious love triangle of the time, that which existed between him, his second wife Emma, and the most celebrated of English naval heroes, Admiral Lord Nelson. Brian Fothergill's history places Sir William Hamilton at the centre of a stage for which he has long been suited. Hamilton carved a refined niche in Neopolitan society and this story details his passage through nobler times, from the scandal of William Beckford, to the earthquakes at Calabria, and on to the curious final chapter of his life where he was overshadowed by his second wife and her lover.