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 seventeenth book in the series.
Jack Aubrey's long service is at last rewarded: he is promoted to the
rank of Commodore and given a squadron of ships to command. His mission
is twofold - to make a large dent in the slave trade off the coast of
Africa and, on his return, to intercept a French fleet set for Bantry
Bay with a cargo of weapons for the disaffected among the Irish.
Invention and surprise follow at every turn in this tale of
nineteenth-century seamanship, as rich, as compelling, as masterly as
any of its predecessors. '… 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 Meyers, 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 sympathy that
the vessels he describes, a rare achievement save in the greatest of
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.
