Books by Martyn Downer

Nelson's Lost Jewel tells the remarkable story of one of the most famous jewels in British history for the first time, and traces its journey from Constantinople to London. Secured for the nation by public appeal, it passed to the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich from where it was sensationally stolen in 1951, never to be seen again.

Sir Howard Elphinstone, dashing hero of the Crimean War, was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1858 aged just twenty-nine. Handpicked by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to be governor to their third son, Prince Arthur, Elphinstone made an uncertain start at court, uncomfortabe within its cliques and clashing frequently with the impassioned Queen.