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Cecil Scott Forester

    27. August 1899 – 2. April 1966

    Cecil Scott Forester was an English novelist renowned for his tales of adventure and military crusades. His work is celebrated for its gripping narratives of naval warfare and the often perilous journeys of his characters. Forester possessed a distinctive talent for immersing readers in the historical settings and the internal lives of his protagonists. His novels continue to captivate with their spirit of adventure and profound storytelling.

    Cecil Scott Forester
    Admiral Hornblower
    Lieutenant Hornblower
    Flying Colours
    The Happy Return
    A Ship of the Line
    The Young Hornblower
    • The Young Hornblower

      • 640 pages
      • 23 hours of reading

      The young Hornblower - A truly formidable force in His Majesty's serviceThe seventeen-year-old Hornblower became notorious as soon as he stepped on board ship - as the midshipman who was seasick in Spithead. But he was soon to gain his sea legs.Amid battle, action and adventure he proves himself time and time again - courageous in danger, resourceful in moments of difficulty and decisive in times of trouble. The reader stands right beside him as he prepares to fight his first duel, feels the heat as he battles to control a blazing ship and shares his horror as he experiences for the first time the panic of the Plague.C.S. Forester's classic Hornblower books are now lavishly adapted for the screen in a major new ITV series.This omnibus edition contains: Mr Midshipman Hornblower, Lieutenant Hornblower and Hornblower and the 'Hotspur'.

      The Young Hornblower
      4.4
    • A Ship of the Line is an historical seafaring novel by C. S. Forester. It follows his fictional hero Horatio Hornblower during his tour as captain of a ship of the line. By internal chronology, A Ship of the Line, which follows The Happy Return, is the seventh book in the series (counting the unfinished Hornblower and the Crisis). However, the book, published in 1938, was the second Hornblower novel completed by Forester. It is one of three Hornblower novels adapted into the 1951 British-American film Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N..

      A Ship of the Line
      4.3
    • 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. A daunting enough set of orders, even if the married captain were not distracted by the passenger he is obliged to take on in Panama: Lady Barbara Wellesley.

      The Happy Return
      4.3
    • November 1810 – June 1811 Captain Horatio Hornblower is a prisoner in the French fortress of Rosas, having had to surrender his ship, the Sutherland, after a long and bloody battle. Within days he and his first lieutenant, Bush, who was crippled in the last fight, will be taken to Paris to be tried on trumped-up charges of violating the laws of war, and most probably executed as an attempt by Napoleon to rally the war-weary empire behind him. Even if Hornblower escapes this fate, and somehow finds his way back to England, he will have to face courtmartial for his surrender of a British ship.

      Flying Colours
      4.3
    • The nineteenth century dawns and the Napoleonic Wars rage as Horatio Hornblower faces the fury of the French and Spanish fleets combined. Amidst the hissing of wet wads, the stifling heat of white-hot cannonshot and the clamour of a mutinous crew, new Lieutenant Hornblower will need all of his seafaring cunning to overcome his first challenge in independent command on the high seas. And while blood and violence flow thick and fast aboard a beleaguered HMS Renown, the aftermath of war promises intrigue of an entirely different order: Maria, a young senorita, who might just soften the steely resolve of a young lieutenant. This is the second of eleven books chronicling the adventures of C. S. Forester's inimitable nautical hero, Horatio Hornblower."

      Lieutenant Hornblower
      4.3
    • Admiral Hornblower

      • 768 pages
      • 27 hours of reading

      An omnibus edition compromising of four C S Forester's classic seafaring tales about Horatio Hornblower, Flying Colours, The Commodore, Lord Hornblower and Hornblower in the West Indies.

      Admiral Hornblower
      4.3
    • Follow the thrilling and exciting adventures of Horatio Hornblower's life at sea in the Royal Navy, in these three classic stories. Hornblower and the Atropos Skippering the flagship for Nelson's funeral on the Thames is not Hornblower's idea of thrilling action. But soon his orders come, and he sets sail for the Mediterranean in the Atropos. Battle, storm, shipwreck, disease - what were the chances that he would never come back again? The Happy Return Hornblower sails the South American waters and comes face to face with a mad, messianic revolutionary in this gripping adventure. A Ship of the Line Commando raids, hurricanes at sea, the glowering menace of Napoleon's onshore gun batteries - Hornblower must deal with them all as he sails his ship to the Spanish station.

      Captain Hornblower R. N. Hornblower and the Atropos. The happy return. A ship of the line
      5.0
    • The Good Shepherd

      • 264 pages
      • 10 hours of reading

      Set during the Battle of the Atlantic, this nautical and war novel delves into the harrowing challenges faced by naval forces, including the relentless sea, enemy threats, and the toll of continuous vigilance. It highlights the limitations of early radar and ASDIC technology, as well as the communication struggles between the fleet and the Admiralty. Originally published in 1955, the story combines historical accuracy with gripping narrative, later inspiring a 2020 film adaptation.

      The Good Shepherd
      4.4
    • The Young Hornblower Omnibus

      • 640 pages
      • 23 hours of reading

      The seventeen year old Hornblower became infamous as soon as he stepped on board ship as the midshipman who was seasick in the Spithead, but things were soon to change. Amid battle, action and adventure he proves himself time and time again - courageous in danger, resourceful in moments of difficulty and decisive in times of trouble.

      The Young Hornblower Omnibus
      4.3
    • Hornblower and the Hotspur

      • 432 pages
      • 16 hours of reading

      The Third Horatio Hornblower Tale of the Sea April 1803, and the Peace of Amiens is failing as Horatio Hornblower takes a sloop on a vital reconnaissance mission . . . On the day of his marriage to Maria, Hornblower is ordered to take the Hotspur and head for Brest - war is coming and Napoleon will not catch His Majesty's navy with its britches round its ankles. With thoughts of his new life as a husband intruding on his duties, Hornblower must prove himself to be not only the most capable commander in the fleet, but also its most daring if he is to stop the French gaining the upper hand. This is the third of eleven books chronicling the adventures of C. S. Forester's inimitable nautical hero, Horatio Hornblower. Featuring an exclusive introduction by Bernard Cornwell, creator of Sharpe 'A master of the genre' New York Times Book Review

      Hornblower and the Hotspur
      4.3