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 fourth book in the series. Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half-pay without a command -- until his friend, and occasional intelligence agent, Stephen Maturin, arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope, under a Commodore's pennant. But the difficulties of carrying out his orders are compounded by two of his own captains -- Lord Clonfert, a pleasure-seeking dilettante, and Captain Corbett, whose severity can push his crews to the verge of mutiny. Based on the actual campaign of 1810 in the Indian Ocean, O'Brian's attention to detail of eighteenth-century life ashore and at sea is meticulous. This tale is as beautifully written and as gripping as any in the series; it also stands on its own as a superlative work of fiction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9106 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-02
• Format: Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Ashore without a command--and on half pay to boot--Jack Aubrey's prayers are answered when Stephen Maturin shows up with a secret mission for him. The two men have been ordered to the Cape of Good Hope. There they hope to dislodge the French garrisons on the islands of Mauritius and La Reunion. Alas, two of their own colleagues--a dilettante and a martinet--prove to be nearly as great an obstacle as the French themselves. --Amazon.com

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 'Patrick O'Brian has written splendid novels -- of which The Mauritius Command is the latest -- recounting episodes in the lives of the naval officer Jack Aubrey and his friend the saturnine Irish physician, Stephen Maturin! Taken together, the novels are a brilliant achievement. They display staggering erudition on almost all aspects of early nineteenth-century life, with impeccable period detail. [Compared to Bush and Hornblower] Aubrey and Maturin are subtler, richer items; in addition, Patrick O'Brian has a gift for the comic which Forester lacks.' T.J. Binyon, Times Literary Supplement 'O'Brian has a monumental knowledge of Naval history of the time. Nothing is glamorised. The press gangings, the floggings, the squalor are all here. But here, too, are heroism and humour.' Mark Kahn, Sunday Mirror 'The Mauritius Command is outstanding' Observer

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

One of O'Brian's best!
I am gradually working my through the Aubrey/Maturin novels and it has been an absolute pleasure.

This book continues the series in fine style, with O'Brian's narrative changing pace to suit the events being described to perfection. His descriptions of ship to ship action in the age of sail are quite simply the best I have read. But in this book he also contrasts this with the dreary monotony of home life for the Royal Navy captain on half pay who longed for the sea.

The scene setting by O'Brian really allows you to imagine what the Mauritius area was like in the time of fighting sail. But he is equally adept at painting a picture of his characters as he is at describing locations, the states of the sea and naval maneuveres. I felt this was especially evident in this novel where Aubrey is joined by three other captains whose relationships and rivalries are brought to the fore and add a great deal of interest to the story.

I enjoyed 'The Mauritius Command' more than any other O'Brian book thus far so my advice is if you liked his others you'll love this so buy it!

A temporary Commodore's pennant for our hero
Patrick O'Brian has the skill to take you on a journey which, although based on fictional characters, carries you to an exciting and different age, to a world being forged by men with character and determination. This book is no exception. Anyone who has read the dry factual accounts of this campaign in the Indian Ocean in 1810, will be held captive by Mr O'Brians Jack Aubrey, leading a dull domestic life which many of us who perhaps seek adventure recognise, given a command, a commodores pennant, and in the company of Stephen Maturin travels to The Cape of Good Hope to again deal with the French fleet. His acting rank also sees him managing the contrasting Captains under his command.

great adventure series
This was the first book that I bought, mainly because it was in the part of the Indian Ocean to which I am well acquainted. At times all the sea battles get a bit confusing but it is in the dialogue and in the use of the English language which makes the book special. I loved the comment by Aubrey that he had to return to Bourbon (Reunion) island to get more bourbon coffee - better than the stuff he got in Mauritius - The Bourbon Pointu is actually being grown again...anyway, it is an interesting book about a forgotten chapter in British Marine History when we took the islands of Rodriguez, Mauritius and Bourbon (La Réunion). Lets hear a Huzzah for Capt. Aubrey !