Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The American Hornblower, 2 Sep 1997
By A Customer
This book, long out of print, tells the story of the Captain of an American frigate late in the War of 1812. He breaks out of Long Island in the midst of a snowstorm, wrecks havoc in southern waters, fights a duel, hunts down a pirate, deals with a family disgrace and upholds the honor of the U.S. Navy. In other words, this is Hornblower born as an American. Much better than O'brien, right up there with the best of Hornblower, read the book.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
An American Hornblower, 25 Feb 2007
Cecil Scott Forester is, of course, best known as the creator of the Horatio Hornblower adventures in the era of fighting sail. The majority of the heroes of C.S. Forester's books, not just Hornblower, were British fighting men.
Forester settled in the US, and also wrote several stories with Americans as the central figure. So "The Captain from Connecticut," Josiah Peabody of the U.S. Frigate Delaware, is by no means alone in being an American: however, he is the only hero of a Forester book who actually has to fight the Royal Navy.
The book is set during the war of 1812: the first challenge which faces Peabody and the Delaware is to escape the Royal Navy's blockade of Long Island in terrible weather. Then Peabody has to deal with pirates, a traitor very close to home, and a British squadron which outnumbers him three to one and is commanded by a very dangerous opponent.
Peabody also encounters, and nearly accidentally attacks, a Royalist French governor appointed by Louis XVIII after Napoleon's first downfall. The governor has a ticklish sense of French honour and neutrality, and is accompanied by his attractive sister and beautiful daughter.
Although this isn't quite up to the standard of the best of Forester's Hornblower books, it is an entertaining and exciting story of war at sea in the era of sail, which holds your attention right up to the surprise ending and the twist on the last page.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Not his best - only buy to "complete the set", 11 Oct 1999
By A Customer
I am a total Forester addict but this novel is nothing special - there is a lot of overlap with Hornblower but the eponymous captain is not such an appealing character (He is American after all :-)). It was published in August 1941 4 years AFTER the Happy Return so I was puzzled as to why CSF felt in necessary to create a similar but inferior leading man. I suspect that WWII and Britain's predicament has something to do with it - though the choice of 'bad guys' is a little puzzling "The British Navy is blockading the coasts of the new republic of the USA","It is the Delaware, manned by desparate men, attacking like a lion, seeking the destruction of a valuable convoy, challenging three British men o' war, defying them all" (Publishers Blurb)If you like the Hornblower Novels - then by all means read this one but don't expect too much David
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by C.S. Forester
by C. S. Forester
by Forester C.S.
