Beat to Quarters
by:
C.S. Forester (author)
June 1808, somewhere west of Nicaragua-a site suitable for spectacular sea battles. The Admiralty has ordered Captain Horatio Hornblower, now in command of the thirty-six-gun HMS Lydia, to form an alliance against the Spanish colonial government with an insane Spanish landowner; to find a water...
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June 1808, somewhere west of Nicaragua-a site suitable for spectacular sea battles. The Admiralty has ordered Captain Horatio Hornblower, now in command of the thirty-six-gun HMS Lydia, to form an alliance against the Spanish colonial government with an insane Spanish landowner; to find a water route across the Central American isthmus; and "to take, sink, burn or destroy" the fifty-gun Spanish ship of the line Natividad or face court-martial. A daunting enough set of orders-even if the happily married captain were not woefully distracted by the passenger he is obliged to take on in Panama: Lady Barbara Wellesley.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780316289320 (0316289329)
ASIN: 316289329
Publish date: September 30th 1985
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Pages no: 273
Edition language: English
“Sea captains were not all of a class, as the uninitiated might carelessly decide.” Rip-roaring. My first Hornblower (to my shame) and I’m kicking myself I didn’t dive into these as my English teacher advised at secondary school back in the 1980s. It was all computers and space battles in those days...
Hornblower was the inspiration for Star Trek's Captain James Kirk, as well as Cornwell's Sharpe. Hornblower is more cerebral and socially awkward than Kirk, more educated and refined than Sharpe. In his own right, Hornblower is certainly an engaging and complex character and the series is an interes...
I can't remember when I last enjoyed a novel so much.I was gripped by the pacing of the plot, the descriptive battle scenes and the characterization. I reached the stage (rare for me) of a cinematic reading experience.I am sure that to appreciate this you'll need to be interested in the Napoleonic n...
Beat to Quarters was an interesting read, and I quite enjoyed it. It contains plenty of action and high-seas adventure and a cast of colorful and entertaining characters. There were a number of places where I wished I had a reference of nautical terminology (I am still uncertain as to the exact stat...
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