Book description
Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be
the greatest series of historical novels ever written. Now, for the
first time, they are available in electronic book format, so a whole new
generation of readers can be swept away on the adventure of a lifetime.
This is the second book in the series.
Patrick O'Brian is regarded by many as the greatest historical novelist
now writing. Post Captain, the second novel in his remarkable
Aubrey/Maturin series, led Mary Renault to write: 'Master and Commander
raised dangerously high expectations; Post Captain triumphantly
surpasses them.'
This tale begins with Jack Aubrey arriving home from his exploits in
the Mediterranean to find England at peace following the Treaty of
Amiens. He and his friend Stephen Maturin, surgeon and secret agent,
begin to live the lives of country gentlemen, hunting, entertaining and
enjoying more amorous adventures. Their comfortable existence, however,
is cut short when Jack is overnight reduced to a pauper with enough
debts to keep him in prison for life. He flees to the continent to seek
refuge: instead he finds himself a hunted fugitive as Napoleon has
ordered the internment of all Englishmen in France. Aubrey's adventures
in escaping from France and the debtors' prison will grip the reader as
fast as his unequalled actions at sea. Patrick O'Brian is
unquestionably the Homer of the Napoleonic wars.' James Hamilton- Paterson
'You are in for the treat of your lives. Thank God for Patrick O'Brian:
his genius illuminates the literature of the English language, and
lightens the lives of those who read him.' Kevin Myers, Irish Times
'In a highly competitive field it goes straight to the top. A real
first-rater.' Mary Renault Patrick O'Brian, until his death in 2000,
was one of our greatest contemporary novelists. He is the author of the
acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin tales and the biographer of Joseph Banks and
Picasso. He is the author of many other books including Testimonies, and
his Collected Short Stories. In 1995 he was the first recipient of the
Heywood Hill Prize for a lifetime's contribution to literature. In the
same year he was awarded the CBE. In 1997 he received an honorary
doctorate of letters from Trinity College, Dublin. He lived for many
years in South West France and he died in Dublin in January 2000.
