Patrick O’Brian – författare

Loving someone, in a time of war and divided loyalties, can be the greatest risk of all.Ordered home by despatch vessel, Captain Jack Aubrey and ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin have been tasked with bringing the news of the latest victory in the war with America back to the government in Britain. But Maturin is a marked man for the havoc he has wrought upon the French intelligence network in the New World, and the attentions of two privateers who pursue their ship soon become menacing. In this man's world of seamanship and war, will a dangerous but fascinating woman redress the balance? ‘I have no particular interest in the sailing or fighting of square‐rigged ships, but I’ve never been so attached to any fictional characters in my life.’MAILE MELOY ‘A swelling tide of intrigue and adventure in the best tradition.’ Guardian

How far will a man go in the name of revenge, honour, love or simple survival? Far from familiar seas, Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew must test themselves to the very limits of human endurance. Following a daring rescue, Jack Aubrey accepts a new command and a new commission to a far-flung destination. Ahead of him and his crew are the new sights and smells of the Indian subcontinent, and the terrifying hazards of an archipelago of islands in the East Indies, where their French enemies have near overwhelming superiority.‘Combines adventure and the art of the novel with an astonishing finesse.’FRANCIS SPUFFORD‘Few, very few, books have made my heart thump with excitement. HMS Surprise managed it.’HELEN LUCY BURKE, Irish Times

In this, the first of Patrick O’Brian’s much lauded Aubrey–Maturin novels, discover a vibrant world conjured by a master storyteller, rich with detail and character. 1800. Napoleon Bonaparte is the biggest threat to peace yet seen. Newly promoted to command of his first ship, Captain Jack Aubrey, along with his crew, and new friend and ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin, must patrol a Mediterranean fraught with peril but rich with rewards. A glimpse of white sails on the horizon could mean a prize to be taken – or a fight for survival.‘In Aubrey and Maturin, Patrick O’Brian has created two of the most enjoyable characters in twentieth-century fiction. One of the greatest authors to sail with.’MICHAEL PALIN‘There are two types of people in the world: Patrick O'Brian fans, and people who haven't read him yet.’LUCY EYRE, Guardian

Whether on land or at sea, can Jack Aubrey stay one step ahead of his enemies? With the Treaty of Amiens, England is at peace. At least for now. . . Accompanied by his friend, ship’s surgeon and spy Stephen Maturin, Captain Jack Aubrey has returned home to England and the life of a country gentleman. But their comfortable experience is cut short when Jack is made a pauper overnight. He flees to the continent, narrowly escaping debtor’s prison, only to find himself a hunted fugitive from Napoleon’s regime as, yet again, war looms.‘Outstanding dialogue, characterisation, humour and a golden thread of romance.’KATIE FFORDE‘The Aubrey–Maturin novels, by Patrick O’Brian, are so addictive that after I finish one I have to hide the next from myself for a little while in order to do anything else but read.’LOUISE ERDRICH

Britain and America are newly at war, and Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are caught in the very thick of the action.En route to England and his next command, Captain Jack Aubrey, and his friend, ship’s surgeon and secret agent Stephen Maturin, find themselves swept up in the War of 1812. As Aubrey convalesces from his wounds in a Boston hospital, awaiting the next prisoner exchange, Maturin’s past activities as a spy return to haunt him and precipitate both men into new and unexpected dangers. Love and betrayal vie for supremacy as the two friends face peril around every corner. ‘The Fortune of War is a marvellously full-flavoured, engrossing book, which towers over its current rivals in the genre like a three-decker over a ship’s longboat.’T. J. BINYON, Times Literary Supplement‘There is nothing in this century that rivals Patrick O’Brian’s achievement.’AMANDA FOREMAN

On Desolation Island, with the known world out of reach, uneasy alliances are sometimes forged…Captain Bligh, of Bounty fame, is now governor of New South Wales and facing mutiny anew, having lost the support of local settlers. Jack Aubrey is commissioned to come to his rescue. With a beautiful but dangerous spy on board, along with an unwelcome hold full of convicts, and war with America brewing, can Captain Jack Aubrey reach Australia in one piece? Outmanned and outgunned in a thrilling chase through an Antarctic storm, the crew of HMS Leopard discover they have become the quarry not the hunter. ‘What is so gripping about O’Brian’s novels is the completeness with which he invents a world which is our own and not our own . . . O’Brian is a brilliant observer.’A. S. BYATT, Evening Standard‘I fell in love with his writing straightaway. It wasn’t primarily the Nelson and Napoleonic period, more the human relationships . . . It’s about friendship, camaraderie. Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin always remind me a bit of Mick and me.’KEITH RICHARDS

Ardent, gregarious British naval officer Jack Aubrey is elated to be given his first appointment as commander: the fourteen-gun ship HMS Sophie. Meanwhile—after a heated first encounter that nearly comes to a duel—Aubrey and a brilliant but down-on-his-luck physician, Stephen Maturin, strike up an unlikely rapport. On a whim, Aubrey invites Maturin to join his crew as the Sophie’s surgeon. And so begins the legendary friendship that anchors this beloved saga set against the thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars.Through every ensuing adventure on which Aubrey and Maturin embark, from the witty parley of their lovers and enemies to the roar of broadsides as great ships close in battle around them, O’Brian “provides endlessly varying shocks and surprises—comic, grim, farcical and tragic.… [A] whole, solidly living world for the imagination to inhabit” (A. S. Byatt).

Can Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew defy the odds, and outmanoeuvre the French, to take two small but vital islands in the Indian Ocean?Life ashore on half pay, despite the joys of family life, is unlikely to satisfy a man of action such as Jack Aubrey. The sea calls to him. And so, when his friend, ship’s surgeon and secret agent Stephen Maturin, arrives with secret orders, Aubrey soon finds himself in command of a frigate and setting sail for the Cape of Good Hope. But, in Nelson’s navy, there are as many enemies within as without. ‘A few books work their way . . . onto [bestseller] lists by genuine, lasting excellence – witness The Lord of the Rings, or Patrick O’Brian’s sea stories.’URSULA K. LE GUIN‘I devoured Patrick O’Brian’s twenty-volume masterpiece as if it had been so many tots of Jamaica grog.’CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS

Whether close to home or far away, there are no safe harbours while Napoleon seeks to dominate the known world.Jack Aubrey, veteran of numerous battles, has been promoted to senior captain commanding a ship that has been sent out to reinforce the squadron blockading Toulon. Compared to the early days of the Napoleonic conflict, the action is slow, cold and dull. But a sudden turn of events takes Aubrey, and ship’s surgeon and spy Stephen Maturin, off on a hazardous mission to the Greek Islands, where the skill, daring and, indeed, luck of both men will be tested to the utmost. With so much at risk, will a Turkish alliance carry the day? ‘I envy those who have never read Patrick O’Brian: an enormous pleasure awaits you.’ Irish Times ‘Wonderfully spacious, generous, funny, intelligent books.’JOHN LANCHESTER

An enemy frigate is outward bound to play havoc with the vital British whaling trade, and must be stopped at all costs.Racing against time, Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew must chase the USS Norfolk as she rounds Cape Horn, pursuing her into the Great South Sea and beyond. Following the equator, ahead of them lies not only the natural wonders of the Galapagos but also a succession of disasters – men overboard, castaways, typhoons, shipwrecks, to say nothing of murder and criminal insanity. In a deadly game of cat and mouse with their American foes, will Jack Aubrey and his crew triumph, despite the odds? ‘If O’Brian’s novels have become a cult, this is because they are truly addictive. . . They are, quite magnificently, adventure yarns whose superb authenticity never distracts from the sheer thrill of the action.’CAROLINE MOORE, Sunday Telegraph‘I love these books . . . They will sweep you away and return you delighted, increased and stunned’NICOLA GRIFFITH, NPR

Malta, in 1813, is ostensibly a safe harbour, yet the island is a nest of French spies, and even those in authority are not to be trusted.As Captain Jack Aubrey cools his heels in a Maltese harbour, awaiting repairs to his ship, war rages on. Fearing that hostilities will end before he has any further opportunities for fame and fortune, Aubrey accepts several secret missions, but all is not as it seems. Will a double agent be the undoing of both Jack Aubrey and his friend, ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin? ‘This is O’Brian at his brilliant entertaining best. When he is on this form the rest of us who write of the Napoleonic conflict might as well give up and try a new career.’BERNARD CORNWELL‘Captain Aubrey and his surgeon, Stephen Maturin, compose one of those complex and fascinating pairs of characters which have inspired thrilling stories of all kinds since the Iliad.’IRIS MURDOCH & JOHN BAYLEY

Entrusted with a secret mission, the perils of the South China Sea await.In the fight against the French, a treaty with the Sultan of Pulo Prabang, a piratical Malay state, may prove decisive. Captain Jack Aubrey and ship’s surgeon Stephen Maturin, along with a hand-picked crew, must survive the dangers of the high forties and convey a diplomatic envoy to ensure this key alliance, but dangers, both natural and man-made, will dog their every move. When echoes of the past return, no one is safe. ‘If Jane Austen had written rousing sea yarns, she would have produced something very close to the prose of Patrick O'Brian.' Time ‘Written with the most engaging enthusiasm that can’t fail to give pleasure to anybody who enjoys historical adventure flavoured with more than a dash of realism.’ Sunday Times

Captain Jack Aubrey, a brilliant and experienced officer, has been struck off the list of post-captains for a crime he did not commit. His old friend Stephen Maturin, usually cast as a ship’s surgeon to mask his discreet activities on behalf of British Intelligence, has bought for Aubrey his former ship the Surprise to command as a privateer, more politely termed a letter of marque. Together they sail on a desperate mission against the French, which, if successful, may redeem Aubrey from the private hell of his disgrace. A nighttime battle with an unusual climax, a jewel of great value, and Maturin’s fondness for opium make this segment of Patrick O’Brian’s masterful series both original and profoundly exciting.

Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin return in this novel to the seas where they first sailed as shipmates. But Jack is now a senior captain commanding a line-of-battle ship in the Royal Navy’s blockade of Toulon, and this is a longer, harder, colder war than the dashing frigate actions of his early days. A sudden turn of events takes him and Stephen off on a hazardous mission to the Greek Islands, where all his old skills of seamanship and his proverbial luck when fighting against odds come triumphantly into their own.

The War of 1812 continues, and Captain Jack Aubrey sets course for Cape Horn on a mission after his own heart: intercepting a powerful American frigate outward bound to wreak havoc with the British whaling trade. Meanwhile, Stephen Maturin has a mission of his own in the world of secret intelligence and comes face to face with the harsh realities for women of the age. Disaster in various guises awaits them in the Great South Sea and in the far reaches of the Pacific—typhoons, castaways, shipwrecks, an ill-fated affair, murder, and criminal insanity—as well as a bold rescue by a crew of seafaring female warriors.

Captain Jack Aubrey, accomplished at sea but dreadfully vulnerable on land, finds himself ashore after a successful cruise. With his prize money burning a hole in his pocket, he is persuaded by a kind stranger he meets at a tavern to make certain investments. This innocent decision ensnares him in the London criminal underground and in government espionage the province of his friend Stephen Maturin, now tasked with rescuing his imperiled friend as he also attempts to locate his wayward wife, Diana Villiers. Is Aubrey’s humiliation and the threatened ruin of his career a deliberate plot? This dark tale is a fitting backdrop to the brilliant characterization and sparkling dialogue which Patrick O’Brian’s readers have come to expect.

It’s 1802. The Treaty of Amiens has brought an end to the hostilities between Great Britain and France. Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend, naval surgeon Stephen Maturin, are enjoying the respite in the English countryside, besotted with two beautiful cousins, Sophie Williams and Diana Villiers—until Aubrey loses his fortune and they flee to France to escape his creditors. While in France, Napoleon smashes the Peace of Amiens and war begins anew. Aubrey and Maturin, now finding themselves behind enemy lines, make their way back to England. Maturin is sent to Spain on an intelligence-gathering mission and the now-solvent Aubrey assumes command of a strange warship, pursuing his quarry straight into the mouth of a French-held harbor. Amidst the rollicking adventures at sea and mishaps on land, Aubrey and Maturin’s friendship is tested by their romantic entanglements with the cousins in this brilliant second installment of the epic series.

Thrown out of the navy for a crime he did not commit, Jack Aubrey has lost everything he held most dear.In command of his beloved Surprise, but in a civilian capacity, Jack Aubrey must navigate a world apart from anything he has previously known, his friend Stephen Maturin at his side. Together they embark on a voyage which, if successful, might just restore Aubrey to the rank, and the raison d'etre, whose loss he so much regrets. Fate is fickle and few people can ever truly be trusted, but has Jack Aubrey’s luck run out? ‘Patrick O’Brian is unquestionably the Homer of the Napoleonic wars.’JAMES HAMILTON‐PATERSON‘My hero is Patrick O’Brian. It’s basically impossible to write that well.’DAVID MAMET

On foreign shores, and far from home, a friend can become a foe in a heartbeat.Shipwrecked on an uninhabited island in the Dutch East Indies as the Napoleonic Wars rage on, circumstances look far from promising for Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew. And yet, having overcome the odds and contrived their escape, still further peril awaits in the fiercely tidal waters of the Salibu Passage and the penal settlements of New South Wales. What fresh dangers lie over the horizon and will Jack Aubrey prevail? ‘In a highly competitive field it goes straight to the top. A real first-rater.’MARY RENAULT‘I’ve read [Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey‐Maturin nautical novel‐cycle] three times now, not least for its beautiful portrayal of a long‐term male friendship.’ROBERT MACFARLANE

The higher one climbs, the further there is to fall.As war with Napoleon seemingly draws to a close, opportunities for advancement are limited and Jack Aubrey faces the ultimate indignity – the possibility of being ‘yellowed’, or retired, and set aside with no squadron of his own. But the blockade of Brest presents dangers to equal those of the furthest shores.Who poses the greater threat to a naval man through and through? A resurgent Bonaparte or the Admiralty itself?‘On every page [O’Brian] reminds us with noble artistry of the most important of all historical lessons: that times change but people don’t, that the griefs and follies and victories of the men and women who were here before us are in fact the maps of our own lives.’RICHARD SNOW, New York Times‘These novels are a brilliant achievement. They display staggering erudition on almost all aspects of eighteenth-century life.’Times Literary Supplement

The adventure continues . . . At the time of his death, Patrick O'Brian had begun to write the twenty-first book in his famous and much-loved Aubrey–Maturin series. The chapters he left behind are presented here, both in printed version and a facsimile of his manuscript, which goes several pages beyond the end of the typescript and includes O’Brian’s own marginal notes.The story picks up from the end of Blue at the Mizzen when Jack Aubrey receives the news, in Chile, of his elevation to flag rank: Rear Admiral of the Blue Squadron, with orders to sail to the South Africa station. ‘This fragment is both delightful and tantalising, with hints of a plot that might have involved Jack and Stephen with St Helena or Napoleon himself.’ Literary Review

On dry land, having been drawn into the half-worlds of London’s criminal underground and of government espionage, Jack Aubrey faces perhaps the greatest challenge of his life.With rumours of peace running rampant, Captain Jack Aubrey chances his luck on the stock exchange. However, when his plans go awry, Marshalsea prison awaits. Can Stephen Maturin rescue his friend from a politically motivated trial and the enormity of being stricken from the Navy Lists? When the world has turned its back against you, friendship is all. ‘The most brilliant historical novelist of modern times.’MAX HASTINGS‘[Patrick O’Brian has] the power of bringing near to the reader . . . savagery and tenderness, beauty and mystery and boldness and dignity.’EUDORA WELTY

With factions on board, and multiple enemies to contend with, only the most careful navigation will save them.As he sails away from Port Jackson, Captain Jack Aubrey feels nothing but relief at leaving the penal colony and its inhabitants far behind. But, unknown to him, hidden among his crew is one Clarissa Oakes. With Britain at war on two fronts, with both America and France, Aubrey’s orders are to make for the Sandwich Islands and intervene in the conflict there. How much trouble can one woman cause? ‘One moment you laugh out loud at comedy rooted in character, and the next, storming adventure or danger grips you by the throat . . . good writing allied to must-read-on storytelling.’SHAUN USHER, Daily Mail‘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

There is a fine line between privateer and pirate, between friend and foe.With a beleaguered Britain already facing war on two fronts – against Napoleon’s armies in Europe but also against the young and vigorous United States – the objective of ship’s surgeon and spy Stephen Maturin is to light the touch paper of Peruvian revolutionary fervour, all while Captain Jack Aubrey engages with their many and varied enemies at sea. Will revolution in South America tip the balance Britain’s way? ‘The truth is that we aficionados scarcely feel them to be novels at all. They are a world of their own, a world full of excitement, mystery, charm and good manners of which we have ourselves become participating citizens.’JAN MORRIS, Observer ‘[O’Brian] goes on that very small shelf reserved for authors who, disregarding aptitudes, spin a story out of the heart and soul of their experience and the joy of living.’ Times Literary Supplement

To whom does one’s true allegiance lie?Jack Aubrey’s long service has at last been rewarded with promotion to the rank of commodore, and a squadron of ships to command. His new commission is twofold – first, inhibit the slave trade off the coast of West Africa, and then, on his return, intercept a French fleet loaded with weapons intended for the disaffected Irish. But will the conflict of loyalties be insurmountable for his friend, and Irishman, Stephen Maturin? ‘His novels are . . . as delicately perceptive about the human condition as the Jane Austen novels that O’Brian himself so much admired.’CHRISTINA HARDYMENT, Independent‘One of the most brilliantly sustained pieces of historical fictional writing this century.’JAMES TEACHER, Spectator

Napoleon has escaped from Elba – the Hundred Days have begun.The war is over, the armies dispersed, and the former Emperor of the French has been consigned to a Mediterranean island, yet now he is marching again on Paris with an ever-growing army. Commodore Jack Aubrey and his convoy are tasked with destroying enemy shipyards along the Adriatic coast and cutting off the financial support from that quarter, in a fast and furious race to stop the Corsican from regaining all he’s lost. All is to play for and everything is at stake. ‘Patrick O’Brian is far and away the best of the Napoleonic story tellers, and The Hundred Days is one of the best in the series; a classic naval adventure, crammed with incident, superbly plotted and utterly gripping.’BERNARD CORNWELL ‘Patrick O’Brian is a joy to read.’ Irish Independent

For a man of war, peacetime is the ultimate challenge.Leaving behind them a Europe still taking stock after the definitive battle of Waterloo, Jack Aubrey and his friend Stephen Maturin set sail for Chile. But even with the newly minted peace, life at sea remains beset with danger and imminent disaster, and the political turmoil of the South American continent is equal to any threat they have yet faced. Out of loss – of purpose, of love – can the two friends rescue what they most desire? ‘Beyond his superbly elegant writing, wit and originality, [O’Brian] showed an understanding of the nature of a floating world at the mercy of the wind and sea which has never been surpassed.’MAX HASTINGS, Evening Standard‘From the opening page I was addicted to what I judge to be one of the greatest cycles of storytelling in the English language.’WILLIAM WALDEGRAVE, Daily Telegraph

The life of the world’s greatest modern artist by one of Britain’s greatest artists.'Positive, original, diverting and highly effective.’ – Sunday Times‘This biography achieves that rare distinction of never having a dull page.’ – Independent on SundayEverything about Picasso, except his physical stature, was on an enormous scale. His appetitel for sex and money, eating and drinking, friends and quarrels, comedy and tragedy, are legendary. No artist of the first rank has been so aw-inspiringly productive. No artist of any rank has made so much money. A few artists have rivalled his life-span of ninety years, but none has attracted so insatiable a public interest.Patrick O’Brian, author of the famous Aubrey-Maturin novels, was a near neighbour of Picasso’s in the south of France for many years and knew him well. His much admired biography gives full weight to hte distinctly Mediterranean origins of Picasso’s character and art. The man that emerges from teh pages of this scholarly and passionate biography is one of many contradictions: hard and tender, mean and generous, affectionate and cold, private despite his relish of fame. A man who, despite the professed communism of his later years, in O’Brian’s view, retained to the end of his life a residual Catholic mentality.