The Commodore (A Horatio Hornblower Tale of the Sea) - Softcover

Forester, C.S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241955572 ISBN 13: 9780241955574

Publisher: Penguin, 2011

Synopsis

1812 and the fate of Europe lies in the hands of newly appointed Commodore Hornblower . . .
Dispatched to northern waters to protect Britain's Baltic interests, Horatio Hornblower must halt the advance of Napoleon's empire into Sweden and Russia. But first he must battle the terrible Baltic weather: fog, snow and icebound waterways; overcome Russian political and commercial intrigues; avoid the seductive charms of royalty as well as the deadly reach of assassins in the imperial palace; and contend with hostile armies and French privateers. With the fate of Europe balanced on a knife edge, the responsibility lies heavy on a Commodore's shoulders . . .

This is the eighth of eleven books chronicling the adventures of C. S. Forester's inimitable nautical hero, Horatio Hornblower.

About this title

Review:

I devoured Patrick O Brian 's 20-volume masterpiece as if it had been so many tots of Jamaica grog. --Christopher Hitchens

O Brian 's Aubrey-Maturin volumes actually constitute a single 6,443-page novel, one that should have been on those lists of the greatest novels of the 20th century. --George Will

I fell in love with his writing straightaway, at first with Master and Commander. It wasn t primarily the Nelson and Napoleonic period, more the human relationships. And of course having characters isolated in the middle of the goddamn sea gives more scope. It s about friendship, camaraderie. Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin always remind me a bit of Mick and me. --Keith Richards"

I devoured Patrick O Brian s 20-volume masterpiece as if it had been so many tots of Jamaica grog.--Christopher Hitchens"

Gripping and vivid a whole, solidly living world for the imagination to inhabit.--A. S. Byatt"

O Brian s Aubrey-Maturin volumes actually constitute a single 6,443-page novel, one that should have been on those lists of the greatest novels of the 20th century.--George Will"

I haven t read novels [in the past ten years] except for all of the Patrick O Brian series. It was, unfortunately, like tripping on heroin. I started on those books and couldn t stop.--E. O. Wilson"

Patrick O Brian is unquestionably the Homer of the Napoleonic wars.--James Hamilton-Paterson"

It has been something of a shock to find myself an inveterate reader of girl books obsessed with Patrick O Brian s Napoleonic-era historical novels What keeps me hooked are the evolving relationships between Jack and Stephen and the women they love.--Tamar Lewin"

[O Brian s] Aubrey-Maturin series, 20 novels of the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars, is a masterpiece. It will outlive most of today s putative literary gems as Sherlock Holmes has outlived Bulwer-Lytton, as Mark Twain has outlived Charles Reade.--David Mamet"

The Aubrey-Maturin series far beyond any episodic chronicle, ebbs and flows with the timeless tide of character and the human heart.--Ken Ringle"

There is not a writer alive whose work I value over his.--Stephen Becker

The Commodore is so satisfying...because it is crowded with so many different kinds of pleasures. O'Brian's genius is in his ability to arrange all this material upon the well-constructed frame of an adventure plot....A lyric poet working in the epic form. --John Ferguson

The best historical novels ever written On every page Mr. O Brian reminds us with subtle artistry of the most important of all historical lessons: that times change but people don t, that the griefs and follies and victories of the men and women who were here before us are in fact the maps of our own lives.--Richard Snow"

The Commodore is so satisfying...because it is crowded with so many different kinds of pleasures. O'Brian's genius is in his ability to arrange all this material upon the well-constructed frame of an adventure plot....A lyric poet working in the epic form. --John Ferguson

I haven't read novels [in the past ten years] except for all of the Patrick O'Brian series. It was, unfortunately, like tripping on heroin. I started on those books and couldn't stop.--E. O. Wilson

The best historical novels ever written... On every page Mr. O'Brian reminds us with subtle artistry of the most important of all historical lessons: that times change but people don't, that the griefs and follies and victories of the men and women who were here before us are in fact the maps of our own lives.--Richard Snow

It has been something of a shock to find myself--an inveterate reader of girl books--obsessed with Patrick O'Brian's Napoleonic-era historical novels... What keeps me hooked are the evolving relationships between Jack and Stephen and the women they love.--Tamar Lewin

I devoured Patrick O'Brian's 20-volume masterpiece as if it had been so many tots of Jamaica grog.--Christopher Hitchens

[O'Brian's] Aubrey-Maturin series, 20 novels of the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars, is a masterpiece. It will outlive most of today's putative literary gems as Sherlock Holmes has outlived Bulwer-Lytton, as Mark Twain has outlived Charles Reade.--David Mamet

The Aubrey-Maturin series... far beyond any episodic chronicle, ebbs and flows with the timeless tide of character and the human heart.--Ken Ringle

O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin volumes actually constitute a single 6,443-page novel, one that should have been on those lists of the greatest novels of the 20th century.--George Will

Gripping and vivid... a whole, solidly living world for the imagination to inhabit.--A. S. Byatt

Patrick O'Brian is unquestionably the Homer of the Napoleonic wars.--James Hamilton-Paterson

From the Publisher:

If you have enjoyed any of Patrick O'Brian's novels there is a whole series of books and audiotapes to look out for :
1. Master and Commander
2. Post Captain
3. HMS Surprise
4. The Mauritius Command
5. Desolation Island
6. The Fortune of War
7. The Surgeon's Mate
8. The Ionian Mission
9. Treason's Harbour
10. The Far Side of the World
11. THE REVERSE OF THE MEDAL
12. The Letter of Marque
13. The Thirteen-Gun Salute
14. The Nutmeg of Consolation
15. Clarissa Oakes
16. The Wine-dark Sea
17. The Commodore
18. The Yellow Admiral
19. The Hundred Days
20. Blue at the Mizzen

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0241955572
• ISBN 13: 9780241955574
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384