Product Description

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of their beginning, with Master and Commander, these evocative stories are being re-issued in paperback with smart new livery. This is the eleventh book in the series. The Reverse of the Medal is in all respects an unconventional naval tale. Jack Aubrey returns from his duties protecting whalers off South America and is persuaded by a casual acquaintance to make investments in the City on the strength of supposedly certain information. From there he is led into the half worlds of the London criminal underground and of government espionage -- the province of his friend, Stephen Maturin, on whom alone he can rely. Those who are already devoted readers of Patrick O'Brian will find here all the brilliance of characterisation and sparkle of dialogue which they have come to expect. For those who read him for the first time there will be the pleasure of discovering, quite unexpectedly, a novelist of unique character.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6572 in Books
• Published on: 1997-05-06
• Format: Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 286 pages

Review
'!full of the energy that comes from a writer having struck a vein! Patrick O'Brian is unquestionably the Homer of the Napoleonic wars.' James Hamilton- Paterson 'You are in for the treat of your lives. Thank God for Patrick O'Brian: his genius illuminates the literature of the English language, and lightens the lives of those who read him.' Kevin Myers, Irish Times 'In a highly competitive field it goes straight to the top. A real first-rater.' Mary Renault 'I never enjoyed a novel about the sea more. It is not only that the author describes the handling of a ship of 1800 with an accuracy that is as comprehensible as it is detailed, a remarkable feat in itself. Mr O'Brian's three chief characters are drawn with no less depth of sympathy than the vessels he describes, a rare achievement save in the greatest writers of this genre. It deserves the widest readership.' Irish Times

About the Author
Patrick O'Brian, until his death in 2000, was one of our greatest contemporary novelists. He is the author of the acclaimed Aubrey--Maturin tales and the biographer of Joseph Banks and Picasso. He is the author of many other books including Testimonies, and his Collected Short Stories. In 1995 he was the first recipient of the Heywood Hill Prize for a lifetime's contribution to literature. In the same year he was awarded the CBE. In 1997 he received an honorary doctorate of letters from Trinity College, Dublin. He lived for many years in South West France and he died in Dublin in January 2000.

Customer Reviews

"Lucky" Jack no longer.
The Aubrey-Maturin series reaches its emotional high-point. Like Post Captain, Reverse of the Medal takes place mostly on land but it is as far-removed as it can be from that romantic-comedy interval. We get to see a fascinating glimpse of the London underworld and the legal processes of the time and Jack Aubrey in adversity is an impressive sight. He bears his misfortune with stoic dignity and the respect in which he is held by all he has served with comes to his rescue in his blackest moment. The climax of the book is one of the most powerful and moving passages I have ever read and made me realise how much I had come to care about these characters.

Onshore, but the Best of the Aubrey-Maturin series so far
I find Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series a challenge to read, albeit an excellent, well-connected long novel. I could not put down the eleventh in the series, The Reverse of the Medal, once I began it. Although most of this book occurs on land, where Captain Jack Aubrey is naive and awkward, O'Brian exploits this: the force of the plot is as strong as the earliest, more typically naval stories in the saga. The climax brought tears to my eyes, and the last chapter's denouement evoked a cheer for Maturin and his dear friend. I went right to the Web to order the next two novels.

Wonderful O'Brian piece about Sanguine Innocence Lost.
The 'Reverse Of The Medal' is a splendid read. There, I've just gone and killed the review, or rather if it was a book it would be rendered moot to read it. In the same vein, anyone reading any of the later books before this will be rather at a disadvantage. The invention in this tale must be experienced first hand. Although you should read the earlier books in the series first, this is one of the few in the series where you don't acuatlly have to in order to grasp the plot. The Reverse Of The Medal is totally different to any other book of it's type, in the nautical vein. In fact it stands alone as a rather wonderful tale that I personally would put above the stodgy tales of Jane Austen. The secret to it's success, lies in the attention to detail and the human element often lauded in the series as a whole. However, in this series the tales are even better by land than sea. This book follows 'Post Captain' (An earlier title) in providing land based adventures that grab me so much that I wish O'Brian had written more tales of Maturins intelligence work on land, the five year gap between 'HMS Surprise' and 'The Mauritius Command' would have served amply. No matter because this book was perhaps the crescendo of O'Brians work. After this book, the series lost the urgency and must read quality it had until after this tale. One thing I particularly liked was Aubreys lawyer whose name is Lawrence, a thoroughly endearing character who in this tale, helps us keep faith in the law of the land. This characters conversations with Maturin are pure GOLD. And he shares my surname. (As I'm studying to be a lawyer I may also add that his views wonderfully mirror those who have taught me, and myself. He gives a wonderful perspective to the readers interpretation of the tale.) Also the portrayal of the Marshalsea Naval Prison is quite clever in portraying it rather nicely and not going over the top with misery and dirt. O'Brian had his characters in a REAL prison earlier in the series the Temple in France compared to that the Marshalsea seems like Butlins, the comparison fired my imagination. The only thing I didn't care for was, no the book could not be improved. Even those who have no interest in the series or the navy particularly SHOULD READ IT!