To Glory We Steer, by Alexander Kent

July 12, 2009 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Alexander Kent, book review, historical fiction, Main character, naval fiction, Richard Bolitho 

This is a truly magnificent novel of the sea, set in the West Indies during the last years of the AmericanTo Glory We Steer, by Alexander Kent Revolution. To Glory We Steer was the first novel published in the series. Alexander Kent’s forceful narration, his excellent penmanship and command of dramatic incident made it clear immediately that at last a genuine contender had emerged for the throne left empty by C. S. Forester.

The time is January 1782, and British Captain Richard Bolitho is ordered to take the frigate Phalarope to the Caribbean. His is a difficult command. A tyrannical previous captain has driven the crew to the edge of mutiny, and as Bolitho sails for the West Indies his own crew is as much a threat to him as is the enemy. As well, a very skilfully handled American Privateer almost brings Bolitho’s career to a premature end. And the identity of its captain is such as to rub salt in the wound. It is a rough start for the hero, showing promise for the series.

Bolitho does what he is best at – he battles back with intelligence, courage, indomitability and his own brand of humane leadership, and thus forges his crew and ship into a hardened weapon that comes victoriously through the decisive Battle of the Saintes, the last of the war, where the hard-pressed royal squadrons are fighting for their lives against the combined fleets of France and Spain and the upstart American privateers.

Bolitho is no ordinary man. His efforts to give the ship back her pride sets him apart from his contemporaries. As the little frigate sails under the blazing sun and fights her inner battles as well as faces the bloody broadsides of the enemy, Bolitho spares neither himself nor his men. An excellent start for the series, well plotted and brilliantly executed by Alexander Kent.

Read more about Alexander Kent and the Richard Bolitho series!

Links to Alexander Kent’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

Praise:

“…follow the wake of Hornblower into 18th-century seas, where a crew of shanghaied valiants kicks the stuffing out of all comers… a salty testament to the mystique and the brutality of the square-rigger.” — The New York Times

“…guarantees interest and suspense that sweeps the reader from one page to the next…. To the final intense moment of the English Victory over the French in a naval engagement unparalleled in vividness and description.” — Saturday Evening Post

Tags: , , , , ,

A King’s Cutter, by Richard Woodman

June 27, 2009 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: book review, historical fiction, Main character, Nathaniel Drinkwater, naval fiction, recommendation, Richard Woodman 

Ten years have passed since we last met Nathaniel Drinkwater (in An Eye of the Fleet). He is now married, but he has not been promoted, A King's Cutter, by Richard Woodman and his career seems to be heading nowhere. Then suddenly a commission in a clandestine operation on a speedy cutter is offered to him by his old shipmate Lord Dungarth. The first mission actually, in a series of missions, initiated by the mysterious and enigmatic Lord. We also meet again in this book seaman Tregembo.

More historical fiction book reviews!

Naval fiction:

Alan Lewrie series, by Dewey Lambdin
Richard Bolitho series, by Alexander Kent
Lord Ramage series, by Dudley Pope
Kydd series, by Julian Stockwin
Frederick Marryat
Charles Edgemont series, by Jay Worrall
Nathaniel Drinkwater series, by Richard Woodman
Richard Delancey series, by C. Northcote Parkinson
The Fury series, by G.S. Beard

Other historical fiction:

Genghis Khan, by Conn Iggulden
Emperor, by Conn Iggulden
Gladiators of Empire, by James Duffy

Thus Nathaniel Drinkwater returns to the Royal Navy with an appointment to the twelve-gun cutter Kestrel commanded by the old and inscrutable Madoc Griffiths. Together they undertake a series of secret missions into France, now under the shadow of the French Revolution.

And as war thickens of the European continent, Kestrel is drawn into the struggle for the Channel, and Drinkwater for the first time encounters his arch enemy, the sinister and extremely devious French Captain Edourd Santhonax. He is, as usual, engaged in activities that attracts a lot of attention from the British government.

Eventually Drinkwater, to some extent by accident, uncovers a grand intrigue which results in mutiny in the Royal Navy, and which then, subsequently, permits the extremely bloody confrontation between the English and Dutch navies at Camperdown, one of the larger battles in Navy history.

In The King’s Cutter, we meet a Drinkwater that is older, smarter, and better equipped for a career in the Royal Navy. Even so, Richard Wood does not allow his hero to be promoted nearly as fast as some of the other heroes in nautical fiction series.

This book is definitely among the best of the books in the Drinkwater series. A King’s Cutter sees Drinkwater doing duty as an acting lieutenant and sailing master in the years 1792 – 1797. It is very well researched, and excellently written. The stories are great, and very interesting to read.

Links to Richard Woodman’s books at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

Tags: , , , , , , ,