HMS Surprise

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

Winner of Heywood Hill Literary Prize 1995

“Patrick Oe(tm)Brian is unquestionably the Homer of the Napoleonic wars.e(tm) James Hamilton- Paterson e~You are in for the treat of your lives. Thank God for Patrick Oe(tm)Brian: his genius illuminates the literature of the English language, and lightens the lives of those who read him.e(tm) Kevin Myers, Irish Times e~In a highly competitive field it goes straight to the top. A real first-rater.e(tm) Mary Renault e~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 Oe(tm)Briane(tm)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.e(tm) Irish Times”

'...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 'Few, very few, books have made my heart thump with excitement. H.M.S. Surprise managed it. [O'Brian's] erudition is phenomenal, as is his capacity for creating another completely believable world. I might have given a better idea of this book if I had simply written 600 times the word "superb".' Helen Lucy Burke, Irish Times 'As sinewy, and virile as its predecessors, this is a copper-bottomed investment for the numerous fans of Jack Aubrey... we sail breathlessly through perilous seas to the Far East. Vivid and authentic as is Mr O'Brian's mastery of period and life at sea, it is in his creation of characters that he excels.' Sarah Lake, Daily Telegraph

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.

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

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