Patrick O'Brian
2) Post captain
"Few, very few books have made my heart thud with excitement. H.M.S. Surprise managed it." —Helen Lucy Burke, Irish Press
In H.M.S. Surprise, British naval officer Jack Aubrey and surgeon Stephen Maturin face near-death and tumultuous romance in the distant waters ploughed by the ships of the East India Company. Tasked with ferrying a British ambassador to the Sultan of Kampong, they find themselves on a prolonged
..."The relationship [between Aubrey and Maturin]...is about the best thing afloat....For Conradian power of description and sheer excitement there is nothing in naval fiction to beat the stern chase as the outgunned Leopard staggers through mountain waves in icy latitudes to escape the Dutch seventy-four." —Stephen Vaughan, Observer
Commissioned to rescue Governor Bligh of Bounty fame, Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend
..."There are those already planning this afternoon's trip to the bookstore. Their only reaction is: Thank god, Patrick O'Brian is still writing. To you, I say, not a moment to lose."—John Balzar, Los Angeles Times
Life ashore may once again be the undoing of Jack Aubrey in The Yellow Admiral, Patrick O'Brian's best-selling novel and eighteenth volume in the Aubrey/Maturin series. Aubrey, now a considerable though impoverished..."A marvelously full-flavored, engrossing book, which towers over its current rivals in the genre like a three-decker over a ship's longboat." —Times Literary Supplement
Captain Jack Aubrey arrives in the Dutch East Indies to find himself appointed to the command of the fastest and best-armed frigate in the British Navy. He and his friend, surgeon Stephen Maturin, take passage for England in a dispatch vessel. But before..."O'Brian is one author who can put a spark of character into the sawdust of time, and The Ionian Mission is another rattling good yarn." —Stephen Vaughan, The Observer
Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin return in this novel to the seas where they first sailed as shipmates. But Jack is now a senior captain commanding a line-of-battle ship in the Royal Navy's blockade of Toulon, and this is a longer, harder, colder war than...The tenth installment in the beloved, epic Aubrey/Maturin series and inspiration for the major motion picture starring Russell Crowe.
The War of 1812 continues, and Captain Jack Aubrey sets course for Cape Horn on a mission after his own heart: intercepting a powerful American frigate outward bound to wreak havoc with the British whaling trade. Meanwhile, Stephen Maturin has a mission of his own in the world of secret intelligence...The classic first novel of the epic Aubrey/Maturin series, widely considered "the best historical novels ever written" (Richard Snow, New York Times).
Ardent, gregarious British naval officer Jack Aubrey is elated to be given his first appointment as commander: the fourteen-gun ship HMS Sophie. Meanwhile—after a heated first encounter that nearly comes to a duel—Aubrey and a brilliant but down-on-his-luck physician,
...11) The golden ocean
13) Richard Temple
A prisoner of the German army in France, Richard Temple is nobody's idea of a hero. To stay sane while denying the charges and absorbing the beatings of his captors, he conducts a minute examination of his life. Temple escaped from a blighted childhood and his alcoholic mother thanks to an artistic gift. But his life as a painter in 1930s London was cruelly deprived. To eat, he became a forger. He was rescued by the love of a wealthy woman, and
...In response to the interest of millions of Patrick O'Brian fans, here is the final, partial installment of the Aubrey-Maturin series.
Blue at the Mizzen ended with Jack Aubrey getting the news of his elevation to flag rank: Rear Admiral of the Blue Squadron, with orders to sail to South Africa. The next novel, unfinished and untitled at the time of the author's death, would have been the chronicle of that mission, and much else besides.
...15) The Catalans
BBC Radio productions of the first seven books in Patrick O'Brian's hugely popular Napoleonic naval series - plus bonus material
Widely regarded as the most engaging historical novels ever written, the 21 books in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series have garnered millions of fans since the publication of the first volume over 50 years ago. Included here are BBC radio adaptations of the first seven thrilling stories.
Master
