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The Fortune of War [Special Edition] (Paperback)

by Patrick O'Brian (Author) "The warm monsoon blew gently from the east, wafting HMS Leopard into the bay of Pulo Batang ..." (more)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 348 pages
  • Publisher: Harper; 40th Anniversary ed edition (4 Nov 1996)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0006499198
  • ISBN-13: 978-0006499190
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 11,238 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #14 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > O > O'Brian, Patrick
    #67 in  Books > Children's Books > Education > GCSE > English > Literature

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Product Description

Review

'!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


Product Description

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. All eighteen books are being re-issued in hardback by HarperCollins with stunning new jackets to coincide with a new film based on the adventures and to introduce these modern classics to a new generation. Captain Jack Aubrey, RN, arrives in the Dutch East Indies to find himself appointed to the command of the fastest and best-armed frigate in the Navy. He and his friend Stephen Maturin take passage for England in a despatch vessel. But the war of 1812 breaks out while they are en route. Bloody actions precipitate them both into new and unexpected scenes where Stephen's past activities as a secret agent return on him with a vengeance.
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The warm monsoon blew gently from the east, wafting HMS Leopard into the bay of Pulo Batang. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Fine Addition to a Great Series, 30 Jun 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Fortune of War (Aubrey-Maturin) (Paperback)
A year ago I read "Master and Commander" and was impressed. A month ago I read "Post Captain" and was hooked. Now I've read eleven of the installments of what has to be one of the great novels of the century.

"The Fortune of War" is an epic, moving installment that works on many levels. Although a Yankee, I can't help but feel for Jack and the Brits as they try to salvage some honor from the War of 1812, a rather dishonorable war for all concerned. Who could fail to be moved by the image of the Constitution holding its fire rather than destroy the helpless Java? Or Captain Lawrence tipping his hat to Jack from the deck of the Chesapeake, only to be killed immediately afterward (O'Brian doesn't mention that it was Lawrence who said "Don't give up the Ship"). The battle scenes are thrilling but tinged with regret.

In order to fit Jack and Stephen into actual historical events O'Brian has to put them into the background, and we share their anguish as one British ship after another falls victim to the tiny but tough American navy. Remember, this is during the Napoleonic wars, and the Americans were effectively allied with the Hitler of that day.

This book was apparently written with Homer in mind. Jack and Stephen are unwilling participants in historical events, when all they really want to do is to go home, Jack to a new command (so he can come back and whip the Americans) and Stephen to deliver an important message to Sir Joseph. In between battles, shipwreck, near starvation, and certain execution, O'Brian finds time to consider timeless notions of duty, honor, loyalty and freedom.

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Another sample of O'Brian's skill to travel the reader ...., 3 Dec 2001
I read this book translated in my language and i found it so interesting that i finished it in just one day. For one more time O'Brian's heroes act in land and sea and their adventures keep the interest of the reader up to the end of the book. The injury of the captain becomes the motive for a more detailed approach of the doctor's character and feelings, until action nails the reader again as is transferred from the foggy land to the open sea, where the writer unfolds for one more time his deep knowledge about seafights and battleships of the 19th century.
A very good book for a few pleasant hours of reading.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars It's not just naval fiction, it's also a spy novel, 23 Oct 1997
By A Customer
This review is from: The Fortune of War (Aubrey-Maturin) (Paperback)
This is the sixth in the excellent series about a British Navy Captain and his friend the British Intelligence Agent but it is a little different from the previous novels. Steven Maturin the spy is definitely at center stage while Captain Aubrey mostly waits in the wings.

This book is therefore, by and large, a spy novel. After being captured with his friend by the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812, Maturin enveavours to keep the Americans from discovering that he is anything but a simple surgeon and naturalist. To make his life even more complicated, his lost love is also living in America and he struggles with his feelings toward her even as ruthless French agents seek him through the twisted streets of Boston.

But Captain Aubrey isn't entirely neglected. The English and American Navy are locked in a series of frigate battles and Aubrey and Maturin manage to be in the middle of two of them.

O'Brien upholds the outstanding reputation this series has garnered with another fine contribution.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 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 4 months ago by Sean Ludlow

5.0 out of 5 stars brilliant
This novel continues from where the last left off - Jack and Stephen have arrived in Sumatra and are prepared for a leisurely trip home. Read more
Published 22 months ago by C. Harman

2.0 out of 5 stars A lifeless tale masquerading as a naval epic!.
What is supposed to be a glorious story of adventure by land and sea turns out to be nothing but the personal, and very boring, misadventures of two totaly unheroic characters... Read more
Published on 19 Aug 1999

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