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Here we meet Horatio Hornblower, a young man of 17 at the start of his career as a British Naval officer fighting against Napoleon and his tyranny of Europe in the late seventeen hundreds. Bullied and forced into a duel, he takes an even chance. And then he has many more chances to show his skills and ingenuities which illustrate the quick thinking, brilliant intuition, and decisiveness characteristic of our hero.
As Hornblower grows as Lieutenant, the reader views his exploits through the eyes of Lieutenant Bush. A tyrannical and eventually crazy Captain falls, or is helped, through a hatch while chasing suspected mutineers, his officers. Upon the incapacity of the Captain, Hornblower, still the most junior lieutenant, suggests and directs shore invasions in the West Indies, captures enemy ships, and recovers escaped Spanish crews. Upon being cleared at a court martial, Hornblower is sent to England with dispatches as Commander of Retribution. Then Peace is declared so his promotion is not confirmed, and he is forced to earn his keep playing whist in a club. With this view of Hornblower through Bush's eyes we enjoy discovering more about these two characters and their very different personalities.
April 1803. Here is Hornblower who, directly after his wedding ceremony, takes his ship, the sloop HMS Hotspur, to observe the French coast, Channel ports, and around to the Bay of Biscay. Now, at 27, as Master and Commander, his exploits tumble one after the other. Reconnaissance, daring shore raids, cutting out expeditions and skillful navigating in treacherous tidal waters bring the reality of the blockade of France to the fore. And all the while the introspective and lonely Hornblower worries about his relationship with his wife and mother-in-law
Although unfinished prior to C.S.Forester's death, Hornblower During the Crisis introduces Hornblower to the makings of a spy. Through fortuitous circumstances and quick wittedness, Hornblower, in action with a man who replaced him and then who immediately sunk the ship Hornblower had commanded for two years in the same waters, fought a ship battle and obtained a very special French secret document. These orders from Napoleon form the basis of the following actions by the British Admiralty which Hornblower must carry out, his first acts of espionage in his efforts to bring victory to England.
In this, the Fifth volume of the Hornblower Saga, while making his way with his wife Maria and baby son to London on a Cotswold canal, Hornblower is called upon to act as a bargeman, giving the reader an unexpected image of late 18th century England. Once arrived and captain of the smallest ship in the British Navy, always finding challenge and scope for his abilities, Hornblower must manage 38 barges for the naval procession carrying Nelson's casket from Greenwich up the Thames to Whitehall. After that harrowing experience, he finds an oar with a crossed numeral 7 floating in a dense fog in the Broads which leads, of course, to another successful adventure. And much of the book concerns his and his crews' efforts in raising sunken treasure from a quiet bay in Turkey. Ending at home, with less fortune in sight, Hornblower knows his duty is to his country first, leading the reader to yearn to continue Hornblower's adventures.
Not for sale from eNet Press.
Not for sale from eNet Press.
Third book written about Hornblower; Volume 8 in the Hornblower saga. Forced to surrender his ship, the Sutherland, after a long and bloody battle, Captain Horatio Hornblower now bides his time as a prisoner awaiting transport to Paris and a trial on trumped up charges. After escaping with his first lieutenant Bush, and his coxswain Brown, they find refuge in France. Later, the three again make their way down the Loire river and upon reaching the sea find a means to escape to England where Hornblower's life becomes more than he ever expected.
We again find Captain Horatio Hornblower in this the 9th volume, chronologically, of the Hornblower Saga, off on a new adventure to the Baltic in 1812, when Napoleon's army marches into Russia. He comes through raids, assignations, a siege, an attempted assassination by a member of his crew , and typhus, seeking success but not notoriety, while his introspection sometimes overwhelms him. According to his biographer, Hornblower's swift actions using ungainly bomb-ketches, landed marines and his naval insight for strategy and tactics probably had major influences on the retreat of Napoleon from Russia. Another great read.
We now find Captain Horatio Hornblower elevated to the peerage in this volume 10 of the Hornblower Saga. He must save a tyrannical officer from his mutinied crew, advance the Bourbon cause in Le Harve as the city changes it allegiance away from Napoleon, and wage a guerilla fight with his old love Marie at his side. Only to find himself captured and condemned to death.
Horatio Hornblower, now Admiral, sails over seas as challenging as any in his victorious career. As admiral in charge of His Britannic Majesty's West Indies Station he is as gallant, daring, implosive as ever. In this tense time after Napoleon's defeat, all kinds of vagabonds, revolutionaries, Imperial Guards. and pirates come sailing into the waters where Hornblower is working his small contingent of naval vessels to preserve the peace and eliminate piracy. With intrepid daring and brilliant strategies, Hornblower wins his victories. With this series of adventures, Volume 11, Hornblower's professional life as a British naval officer reaches its climax, not in a battle against men, but against nature. Here the inner Hornblower shows his colors.
Five adventures of Horatio Hornblower, two as Lieutenant, two as Captain, and one as Admiral of the Fleet, collected here for the first time. These stories about daring exploits, compassion, and challenging discoveries were written outside the confines of books and were published by magazines. Here the author has given free reign to his character - creating unique circumstances to further the development of Hornblower's character. A potential mutiny thwarted, an Irish uprising out foxed, help to hundreds, managing a healthy sea voyage for an ailing monarch, and meeting once again Napoleon Bonaparte - very different insights into this complex man Hornblower.
