- Hardcover
- Publisher: HarperCollins; Abridged edition edition (20 Jan 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0001052942
- ISBN-13: 978-0001052949
- Product Dimensions: 13.4 x 10.6 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,518,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Yellow Admiral: Aubrey/Maturin series, book 18
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Product Description
Review
“Robert Hardy has a consummate knack of giving timbre and atmosphere to everything he reads. That’s not to dimiss O’Brian’s skilfully constructed adventures, where the dialogue and politics are of a very high order of authenticity.”
Time Out 5/2/97
'… 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
‘If O’Brian’s novels have become a cult, this is because they are truly addictive… They are, quite magnificently, adventure yarns whose superb authenticity never distracts from the sheer thrill of the action.’
Caroline Moore, Sunday Telegraph
‘This is no mere sea story. It is history as it must have felt… Take up these books and you will share their dangers, taste their food and wine, tremble through their terrible battles, and understand for the first time the exacting and harsh nature of life in the Napoleonic era… Perhaps best of all is O’Brian’s mastery of the English language. He plays it like an orchestra, somehow bringing the rich, powerful speech of the period back to life.’
Peter Hitchens, Daily Express
Review
“Robert Hardy has a consummate knack of giving timbre and atmosphere to everything he reads. That’s not to dimiss O’Brian’s skilfully constructed adventures, where the dialogue and politics are of a very high order of authenticity.”
Time Out 5/2/97
'… 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
‘If O’Brian’s novels have become a cult, this is because they are truly addictive… They are, quite magnificently, adventure yarns whose superb authenticity never distracts from the sheer thrill of the action.’
Caroline Moore, Sunday Telegraph
‘This is no mere sea story. It is history as it must have felt… Take up these books and you will share their dangers, taste their food and wine, tremble through their terrible battles, and understand for the first time the exacting and harsh nature of life in the Napoleonic era… Perhaps best of all is O’Brian’s mastery of the English language. He plays it like an orchestra, somehow bringing the rich, powerful speech of the period back to life.’
Peter Hitchens, Daily Express
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First Sentence
Sir Joseph Blaine, a heavy, yellow-faced man in a suit of grey clothes and a flannel waistcoat, walked down St Jams's Street, across the park, and so to the Admiralty, which he entered from behind, opening the private door with a key and making his way to the large, shabby room in which he had his official being. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Sir Joseph Blaine, a heavy, yellow-faced man in a suit of grey clothes and a flannel waistcoat, walked down St Jams's Street, across the park, and so to the Admiralty, which he entered from behind, opening the private door with a key and making his way to the large, shabby room in which he had his official being. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sadly, I fear, we'll be seeing a lot less of this type of fiction in the future. I have become accustomed to my usual fix of Patrick O'Brian and heartily recommend any of his novels to anyone. Any of his non-fiction work for that matter too, it is very fine work. Since my reading of The Commodore had been itching to get my hands on it's sequel, when The Yellow Admiral came out I read it in one day and immediately regretted it. I should have savoured it like a fine wine since that is the kind of treatment it deserves.
No one else that I have come across wrote with such finely drawn enthusiasm. The well-rounded characters of The Yellow Admiral will leave you yearning for more no mater how slowly you read it.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Yellow Admiral is as good as any of the previous 17 Aubrey/Maturin novels: as good as novels get. It has occurred to me, and not for the first time as I have read and reread the entire series and observed the whole cast of characters mature, that what we call the Aubrey/Maturin series is really one very long book with eighteen chapters.
One can read the Holmes/Watson books in any order; the characters never change, and I don't recall references by Doyle to previous events, such as those backwards glimpses O'Brian slyly slips to us steady fans from time to time that must sail right over the heads of hit-and-run readers.
With not a molecule of discredit to her genius intended, Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot remained the same character through 25 stories, and I'm not aware of any maturation of Miss Jane Marple. Of course, Agatha Christie probably felt that her readers preferred the familiarity that the sameness of characters provided.
What gives me the feat tha! ! t The Yellow Admiral might be the final Aubrey/Maturin episode? Diana never once jumps the traces; Jack mends all his fences at home; Sir Joseph Blaine is very much back in control in his seemingly obscure but influential position with "the Committee;" and Stephen has lived through a volume without a crisis. Then, just as Jack Aubrey has gotten used to the idea of building the Chileans a navy, while on a little respite in Funchal, Madeira, with his family and almost everyone else dear to him, he receives an urgent dispatch from Lord Keith of the Admiralty, advising him that Napoleon has escaped from Elba. Writes Keith: "You are to take all His Majesty's ships and vessels at present in Funchal under your command, hoisting your broad pennant in 'Pamone,' and . . . proceed without the loss of a moment to Gibraltar, there to block all exits from the Straits by any craft soever until further notice. And for so doing the enclosed order shall be your warrant."
A! ! t the bottom of Keith's letter was a handwritten note from ! dear, dear Queenie, an important figure in Jack's youth and during his career, now married to Lord Keith: "Dearest Jack -- I am so happy for you -- love -- Queenie."
So the Chileans must develop their navy without the services of Captain Aubrey. And there will be no yellow admiral in the person of Lucky Jack Aubrey.
Thus, with this pristine conclusion, I fear that we have seen the last chapter in the adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey, Royal Navy, and his loyal friend and invaluable companion Stephen Maturin. But O'Brian will be writing, that's for sure. And if his next work is another splendid biograpy, a fine story on another subject, short stories, whatever he writes will be a thrill for me to read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Captain Jack Aubrey and ship's surgeon and spy Stephen Maturin suffer the tedium of a naval blockade but, before long, Stephen's murky activities require them to engage in dangerous missions. Jack's peace of mind is threatened by secrets from the past and concerns over his career progression.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
the continuing adventures of Capt Aubrey & Dr Maturin
only CS Foster is a match for Patrick O'Brian so i am told which i will start to read when i have completed this series of books 21 in all, each book continuing the adventures of... Read more
Published on 9 July 2009 by Sean Ludlow
An epic series
I have to take issue with the previous reviewer who only awarded 2 stars because he felt the author did not explain the characters fully enough in this book. Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2007 by Peter Groome
Not a book for the first reader
I love this series.Patrick O'Brian is a genius.HOWEVER-I can only rate this book 2 stars.This is to discourage a casual reader from starting with The Yellow Admiral. Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2006
What more can you expect?
Its O'Brian and Aubrey/Maturin ... what more do you need? We would venerate POB as a literary genius if he had passed 150 years ago ... Read more
Published on 26 July 2005 by Simon Power
Aubrey/Maturin ride again
Sadly, I fear, we'll be seeing a lot less of this type of fiction in the future. I have become accustomed to my usual fix of Patrick O'Brian and heartily recommend any of his... Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2002
Aubrey/Maturin ride again
Sadly, I fear, we'll be seeing a lot less of this type of fiction in the future. I have become accustomed to my usual fix of Patrick O'Brian and heartily recommend any of his... Read more
Published on 13 Feb 2002
Not a pleasant experience
While a more than adequate insight into everyday life in the England of George III, this book serves the uninitiated reader of O'Brian's work poorly. Read more
Published on 15 July 1999
Not the best, but more to come
O'Brian is never dull, of course, but this installment is too didactic for me. Where before Maturin's naivete is a natural cue for exploration of many topics, here it's just too... Read more
Published on 3 Aug 1997
A must for the series reader, but not the most exciting.....
Not the most action packed of the novels, however, the storyline and history are as always fun to follow....
Published on 4 Jan 1997
O'Brian's cruising here, but still very enjoyable.
This is another "land-based" book in the series, which is a good thing. Jack Aubry's troubles dealing with land lubbers (whose dishonesty and unstructured ways mystify... Read more
Published on 4 Jan 1997
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