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 fourth book in the series.
Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half-pay without a command - until his
friend, and occasional intelligence agent, Stephen Maturin, arrives with
secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope,
under a Commodore's pennant. But the difficulties of carrying out his
orders are compounded by two of his own captains - Lord Clonfert, a
pleasure-seeking dilettante, and Captain Corbett, whose severity can
push his crews to the verge of mutiny.
Based on the actual campaign of 1810 in the Indian Ocean, O'Brian's
attention to detail of eighteenth-century life ashore and at sea is
meticulous. This tale is as beautifully written and as gripping as any
in the series; it also stands on its own as a superlative work of
fiction. '…full of the energy that comes from a writer having struck a
vein… 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
'Patrick O'Brian has written splendid novels - of which The Mauritius
Command is the latest - recounting episodes in the lives of the naval
officer Jack Aubrey and his friend the saturnine Irish physician,
Stephen Maturin… Taken together, the novels are a brilliant achievement.
They display staggering erudition on almost all aspects of early
nineteenth-century life, with impeccable period detail. [Compared to
Bush and Hornblower] Aubrey and Maturin are subtler, richer items; in
addition, Patrick O'Brian has a gift for the comic which Forester
lacks.' T. J. Binyon, Times Literary Supplement
'O'Brian has a monumental knowledge of Naval history of the time.
Nothing is glamorised. The press gangings, the floggings, the squalor
are all here. But here, too, are heroism and humour.' Mark Kahn, Sunday Mirror
'The Mauritius Command is outstanding'
Observer 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.
