Home > Horatio Hornblower

1 Life

According to Forester, Hornblower was born on July 4, 1776.

Hornblower is a skilled pilot and navigator. He is philosophically opposed to capital punishment to the extent that he contrives escape for a crewman condemned to the yard-arm in Hornblower and the Hotspur. This, despite believing that severe corporal punishment (e.g. flogging round the fleet and keelhauling) is the only way to maintain discipline in the face of severe privation. Despite near-constant success, he judges himself lacking professionally and personally. He is contemptuous of those around him (including both his wives and his best friend, Capt. Bush), but strives to shield them from his contempt and savages himself for failing to possess those qualities of theirs he sees as desirable.

Hornblower's exploits include confronting Spanish fire ships during his exam for Lieutenant, surviving a Captain with paranoid schizophrenia, orchestrating the funeral of Horatio Nelson from a sinking barge conveying the coffinA coffin is a box used for the display and burial or cremation of a dead human body. Some people mistakenly believe that a coffin is a tapered hexagonal or octagonal box used for a burial, and that a rectangular coffin ought to be called a casket instead., recovering sunken treasure with the aid of pearl diver s from Ceylon, and having his ship gifted to the King of the Two Sicilies for diplomatic reasons. And that's just the first 5 books.

As in the novels of Frederick MarryatCaptain Frederick Marryat ( July 10, 1792 August 9, 1848) was an English novelist, a contemporary and acquaintance of Charles Dickens, noted today as an early pioneer of the seafaring story. He was born in London, the son of Joseph Marryat, a merchant and and Patrick O'BrianPatrick O'Brian ( December 12 1914 January 2 2000; original name Richard Patrick Russ) was a novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centered on the friendship of Cap, many of Hornblower's exploits are based upon those of Horatio Nelson and Thomas Cochrane.

A "biography" of Hornblower, called The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower, was published in 1970 by C. Northcote ParkinsonCyril Northcote Parkinson ( July 30, 1909 March 9, 1993) was a British historian and author of some sixty books. These included historical fiction, often based on the Napoleonic period, and sea stories. He is even more famous for his satire of bureaucrati.

2 The Hornblower novels

The novels, in the order they were written:

1. The Happy ReturnThe Happy Return Beat to Quarters in the US) was the first of the Horatio Hornblower novels published by C. It appeared in 1937. The American name derives from the expression " beat to quarters", which was the signal to prepare for combat. The story begin (called Beat to Quarters in America)
2. A Ship of the Line (called simply Ship of the Line in America)
3. Flying Colours (spelled Flying Colors in America)
4. Commodore Hornblower
5. Lord Hornblower
6. Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (collected short stories)
7. Hornblower and the Atropos
8. Lieutenant Hornblower
9. Hornblower in the West Indies
10. Hornblower and the Hotspur
11. Hornblower and the Crisis (collected short stories)

 
In chronological order:

• Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (collected short stories)
• Lieutenant Hornblower
• Hornblower and the Hotspur
• Hornblower and the Atropos
• Hornblower and the Crisis (collected short stories)
• The Happy Return (called Beat to Quarters in America)
• A Ship of the Line (called simply Ship of the Line in America)
• Flying Colours (spelled Flying Colors in America)
• Commodore Hornblower
• Lord Hornblower
• Hornblower in the West Indies