C. S. Forester

April 1803. The Peace of Amiens is breaking down. Napoleon is building ships and amassing an army just across the Channel. Horatio Hornblower -- who, at age twenty-seven, has already distinguished himself as one of the most daring and resourceful officers in the Royal Navy -- commands the three-masted Hotspur on a dangerous reconnaissance mission that evolves, as war breaks out, into a series of spectacular confrontations. All the while, the introspective young commander struggles to understand his new bride and mother-in-law, his officers and crew, and his own "accursed and unhappy temperament" -- matters that trouble him more, perhaps, than any of Bonaparte's cannonballs. - Back cover.

As commander-in-chief of His Majesty's ships and vessels in the West Indies, Admiral Hornblower faces pirates, revolutionaries, and a blistering hurricane in the chaotic aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars.

Hornblower faces charges of violating the laws of war and probable execution by Napoleon's French forces.

Hornblower, captain of the 36-gun frigate Lydia, sets course for Spain and Nicaragua in his ongoing quest to cut Napoleon's lines wherever he crosses them.

As his naval battles with Napoleon conclude, Horatio Hornblower must rescue a man he knows to be a tyrant from the mutiny of his crew.

In the wake of a humbling incident aboard a canal boat in the Cotswolds, Captain Horatio Hornblower arrives in London to take command of the Atropos, a 22-gun sloop barely large enough to require a captain. Her first assignment under Hornblower's command is as flagship for the funeral procession of Lord Nelson. Soon Atropos is part of the Mediterranean fleet's harassment of Napoleon, recovering treasure that lies deep in Turkish waters and boldly challenging a Spanish frigate several times her size. At the center of each adventure is Hornblower, Forester' s most inspired creation, whose blend of cautious preparation and spirited execution dazzles friend and foe alike. - Back cover.

In the second year of the War of 1812, Captain Peabody's mission is to break the British blockade. A blizzard has cut visibility to yards. Who would expect a Yankee frigate to be in the Long Island Sound at night and under such conditions?

The final Horatio Hornblower story tells of Napoleon's plans to invade England ... Set in 1805, Hornblower and the Crisis finds Horatio Hornblower in possession of confidential dispatches from Bonaparte after a vicious hand-to-hand encounter with a French brig. The admiralty rewards Hornblower by sending him on a dangerous espionage mission that will light the powder trail leading to the battle of Trafalgar ... Hornblower and the Crisis was unfinished at the time of Forester's death, but the author left notes – included here – telling us how the tale would end. Also included are two further stories – Hornblower and the Widow McCool and The Last Encounter – that tell of Hornblower as a very young and very old man, respectively. This is the final book chronicling the adventures of C. S. Forester's inimitable nautical hero, Horatio Hornblower.

Captain Hornblower struggles to do his part to bring glory and victory to England during the Napoleonic Wars.

The sub-title of this work says it all: "An Atlas and Personal Commentary on the Writing of the Hornblower Sagas by C. S. Forester, with Illustrations and Maps by Samuel Bryant". In eighteen chapters this slim volume summarizes the travels and adventures of Hornblower at key locations described in the several novels chronically Hornblower's life from his entering into the King's service as a midshipman through his posting as "Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies." Approximately one-half of this book is devoted to the author's thoughts in writing about Hornblower and the other characters that fill the pages of the series. Equal in value to understanding the Hornblower sagas are the excellent maps and illustrations liberally scattered throughout, maps and illustrations that allow the reader to live vicariously next to Hornblower as he moves through history.

In 1941, Hitler’s deadly Bismarck, the fastest battleship afloat, broke out into the Atlantic. Its mission: to cut the lifeline of British shipping and win the war with one might blow. How the Royal Navy tried to meet this threat and its desperate attempt to bring the giant Bismarck to bay in six mad days of driving Atlantic storm is the story C. S. Forester tells with mounting excitement and suspense.C.S. Forester was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1899, the son of a British Army officer. After service in the infantry in World War I, he began his writing career. In 1937 he wrote the first Horatio Hornblower novel. This would become a series of international best selling sea adventure novels that would make him one of the most acclaimed writers in the 20th century. Forester was also the author of the African Queen, which was made into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. He died in 1966.John Gresham is the co-author with Tom Clancy on the best-selling “guided tour” military books Submarine and Special Forces. His documentaries: Wings Over Afganistan and 21st Century Soldier are scheduled to be released in Fall 2002 on The Discovery Channel. He is presently a writer, researcher, game designer, photographer and commentator on military subjects for The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, and other broadcast and print mediums. Gresham worked for over twenty years as a defense analyst and training consultant before becoming a professional full-time writer. He regularly give lectures at important military schools across the nation.