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 ninth book in the series.
Uniquely among authors of naval fiction, Patrick O'Brian allows his
characters to develop with experience. The Jack Aubrey of Treason's
Harbour has a record of successes equal to that of the most brilliant of
Nelson's band of brothers, and he is no less formidable or decisive in
action or strategy. But he is wiser, kinder, gentler too.
Much of the plot of Treason's Harbour depends on intelligence and
counter-intelligence, a field in which Aubrey's friend Stephen Maturin
excels. Through him we get a clearer insight into the life and habits of
the sea officers of Nelson's time than we would ever obtain seeing
things through their own eyes. There is plenty of action and excitement
in this novel, but it is the atmosphere of a Malta crowded with senior
officers waiting for news of what the French are up to, and wondering
whether the war will end before their turn comes for prize money and for
fame, that is here so freshly and vividly conveyed. '…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
'In a highly competitive field it goes straight to the top. A real
first-rater.' Mary Renault
'I never enjoyed a novel about the sea more. It is not only that the
author describes the handling of a ship of 1800 with an accuracy that is
as comprehensible as it is detailed, a remarkable feat in itself. Mr
O'Brian's three chief characters are drawn with no less depth of
sympathy than the vessels he describes, a rare achievement save in the
greatest writers of this genre. It deserves the widest readership.'
Irish Times 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.
