Ship of the Line

This is C.S. Forester’s famous naval hero Horatio Hornblower at his best. Captain Hornblower is in command of his first ship of the line. Forester knows ships from bowsprit to sternchasers and you can feel it in every word. There's a truth to the writing that puts you right down in the thick of it. Duty, skill and courage are on display throughout and the climax, when Captain Hornblower accepts an impossible task to protect his allies, and turns his ship to face three to one odds, knowing he cannot win? It’s a masterclass in writing a battle scene, sailors… show more.

I first read C.S.Forrester’s Hornblower series as a child and was instantly hooked. I was intrigued by the hero he had created, who was both successful, yet also deeply flawed. This book was one of my favorites. It is pacy and full of action, which obviously appealed to my teenage self, but it also left me wanting to know more about sailing ships and the sea. Without Forester I would never have written my own Age of Sail series.