The Catalans

‘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.’ Irish Times

‘The best historical novels ever written.’ New York Times

‘Any contemporary novelist should recognize in Patrick O’Brian a Master of the Art.’ Sunday 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.

Nikolai Tolstoy is an English-Russian author and was Patrick O’Brian’s step-son, their relationship spanned forty-five years during O’Brian’s marriage to Mary Tolstoy, Nikolai’s mother. He has written a number of books, including Patrick O’Brian – The Making of the Novelist, The Coming of the King and Victims of Yalta. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1979.