Search for books and compare prices on all major online booksellers with one click!

Home

About Us

Suggest Bookstore

Recommend Us

Title/Keywords

ISBN

The Letter of Marque (Aubrey - Maturin Series #12)

AUTHOR: Patrick O'Brian
ISBN: 0393309053
SHORT DESCRIPTION: Captain Jack Aubrey, a brilliant and experienced officer, has been struck off the list of post captains for a crime he did not commit. Old friend Stephen Maturin, of British intelligence, gets Aubrey to help him in a desperate mission against the...

Compare Price

	HOME--->> History --->>Military History --->>Naval History

	Naval History

Editorial Review

The Letter of Marque (Aubrey - Maturin Series #12)
- Book Review, by Patrick O'Brian

Amazon.com
When Jack Aubrey is unfairly deprived of his commission in the Royal Navy, Stephen Maturin comes to the rescue, purchasing the captain's former ship and outfitting it as a privateer, to be commanded by...Jack Aubrey. Soon the Surprise is off to sea, on a mission that Aubrey hopes will redeem his good name. The author's grasp of period detail is astonishing as ever--and so is his gift for pure entertainment.

From Publishers Weekly
If Jane Austen wrote Royal Navy yarns, they might read like this sequel to Master and Commander and Post Captain (which Norton issues in paperback in August). In the early 1800s, Captain Jack Aubrey, unjustly drummed out of service, is now master of the "letter of marque" (privateer) frigate Surprise , secretly owned by Stephen Maturin, ship's doctor/naturalist/abandoned husband/opium-eater and intelligence agent. The major events here are two great sea victories that make Jack a rich folk-hero, and Stephen's winning back of his wife and breaking his laudanum habit. Jack's seamanship and heroism are complemented by Stephen's absent-minded brilliance, their friendship cemented by their shared music-making (violin and cello, respectively). The early-19th-century locutions are fascinating, as are the evocation of period shipboard life (including ship-provisioning and naval lingo), Whitehall politics (rotten boroughs, etc.) and drug addiction (coca leaf-chewing as well as opium-eating). Seafarers and landlubbers alike will enjoy this swift, witty tale of money and love. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Originally published in England in 1988, this U.S. publication is the long-awaited sequel to Master and Commander (LJ 12/15/69) and Post Captain (LJ 8/72). It continues the adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, ship's doctor. Jack, who has been unfairly dismissed from the British Navy, continues his sea career under a "Letter of Marque," a polite term for a privateer. Stephen struggles to balance his scientific interests, his own inclination toward addiction to laudanum, and his concern for his friend. The author has created two wonderfully contrasting characters in bluff, hearty Aubrey and reedy, intellectual Maturin. Readers will be glad to see these unlikely friends in action again. The historical background of the Napoleonic era, as well as the details of early 19th-century naval warfare, are authentically depicted. An exciting sea story with good character development. Recommended for public libraries.- C. Robert Nixon, M.L.S., Lafayette, Ind.Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Eudora Welty
[Patrick O'Brian has] the power of bringing near to the reader...savagery and tenderness, beauty and mystery and boldness and dignity.

Charles McGrath. The New Yorker
There are legions of us who gladly ship out time and time again under Captain Aubrey.

Buy from Amazon Compare Prices

Book Review

The Letter of Marque (Aubrey - Maturin Series #12)
- Book Reviews, by Patrick O'Brian

The Letter of Marque (Aubrey - Maturin Series #12)

ANNOTATION

Captain Jack Aubrey, a brilliant and experienced officer, has been struck off the list of post captains for a crime he did not commit. Old friend Stephen Maturin, of British intelligence, gets Aubrey to help him in a desperate mission against the French which, if successful, may redeem Aubrey from the private hell of his disgrace. "A splendid saga."--Los Angeles Times Book Review.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The 12th installment in the Aubrey/Maturin series.

The time is the early 1800s, and the British Navy stands as the only bulwark against the militant fanaticism of Napoleonic France. Jack Aubrey, a brilliant and experienced officer, has been struck off the list of post-captains for a crime his has not committed. His old friend Stephen Maturin, usually acting as the ship's surgeon to cover his activities on behalf of British intelligence, has bought for Aubrey his old ship The Surprise to command as a privateer. Together they sail on a desperate mission against the French which, if successful, may redeem Aubrey from the private hell of his disgrace.

From these familiar Patrick O'Brian has created a tale of great narrative power that rivals C.S. Forester for suspense, and surpasses him in its perception of character.

FROM THE CRITICS

Stephen

"These novels, thoroughly steeped in the mealsonic, were originally hailed as Hornblower's natural successors, and in certain respects - humor, charcterisation - has succeeded in stealing the wind from that paragon's sail." -- The Observer

Stephen Vaughan - Stephen Vaughan, Observer

These novels, thoroughly steeped in their Nelsonic period, were originally hailed as Hornblower's natural successors, and in certain respects—humor, characterization—have succeeded in stealing the wind from that paragon's sails.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

I have been enthralled since reading Master and Commander. Now, having just finished Desolation Island, I find myself curiously anxious to slow down. True, nine volumes await me, but what I have read is so rich and splendid that I need to ponder and digest.
— Robert Massie

"(Patrick O'Brian has) the power of bringing near to the reader...savagery and tenderness, pity and mystery and boldness and dignity." — Eudora Welty

Buy from Barnes & Noble Compare Prices