The Mauritius command

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Title:

The Mauritius command

Author:

O'Brian, Patrick, 1914-2000, author.

Series:

Aubrey/Maturin ;

Series Number:

Summary:

Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half pay without a command, until Stephen Maturin arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope under a commodore's pennant, there to mount an expedition against the French-held islands of Mauritius and La Reunion. 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 pushes his crew to the verge of mutiny.

Edition:

Norton uniform ed.

Physical Description:

348 p. : ill., map ; 22 cm.

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Subject Term:

Aubrey, Jack (Fictitious character) -- Fiction.

Maturin, Stephen (Fictitious character) -- Fiction.

Ship physicians -- Fiction.

Ship captains -- Fiction.

Sea stories

Geographic Term:

Great Britain -- History, Naval -- 19th century -- Fiction.

Publisher:

W.W. Norton,

Publication Date:

1994

1977

ISBN:

9780393037043

Publication Information:

New York : W.W. Norton, 1994, c1977.

Call Number:

OBRIAN

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607001968182	Adult Fiction	OBRIAN	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half pay without a command--until Stephen Maturin arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope under a commodore's pennant, there to mount an expedition against the French-held islands of Mauritius and La Réunion. 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 pushes his crew to the verge of mutiny.

Author Notes

Patrick O'Brian is the author of twenty volumes in the highly respected Aubrey/Maturin series of novels.

(Publisher Provided)

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

This initiates the reissue (see H.M.S. Surprise above) of O'Brian's long-out-of-print novels, set in Napoleonic-era England, about the unlikely pair, Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin. Aubrey is a strapping blond man of action; Maturin, his ship's surgeon and occasional intelligence agent to the king, is diminutive and somber. Aubrey is without a ship, uncomfortably surrounded by wife, babies and mother-in-law, when Maturin comes to visit. The good doctor has engineered a new mission for his friend, and they set off to take two small islands off the coast of Madagascar, thereby making the Indian Ocean safe for English commerce. O'Brian is a graceful writer, and the book is full of wonderful period details, such as the use of a sail to create a wading pool for non-swimmers in Aubrey's crew. Unfortunately, with Aubrey as commodore, too much of the action is seen from afar, as when batteries are taken on one of the islands. The book's peculiar narrative structure builds repeatedly towards anticipated climaxes that never happen. However, aficionados of C. S. Forester and Alexander Kent will delight in the almost excessive period nautical jargon. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved