Hornblower and the Hotspur. By C.S. Forester

Hornblower and the Hotspur

C. S. Forester (1962)

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Hornblower marries Maria and almost immediately sets out to sea on the Hotspur, with Bush as his lieutenant to start observing the French port of Brest. The Napoleonic wars have begun, and the British Navy is charged with keeping the ‘First Consul’ out of Britain. Hornblower goes up and down outside the French port, observing, gathering information by bribing fishermen, and being chased by a larger French frigate, after war with the French is declared, but yet, by Hornblower’s brilliant seamanship, being able to so badly damage it that the French ship gives up chase. There are other such adventures, battles with various ships, the capture of a few of them, Hornblower’s stoic calm in the face of not being able to participate in any prize money captures, and glimpses of his domestic life when he puts in to port for refitting. In the end, he is promoted to Captain.