Patrick O'Brian cattura magistralmente l'emozionante mondo della Royal Navy durante le Guerre Napoleoniche attraverso gli occhi dell'ufficiale navale Jack Aubrey e del suo amico, il medico e spia Stephen Maturin. La sua vasta serie è celebrata per il suo realismo schietto, la sua prosa intricata e le sue profonde intuizioni sulla natura umana e sull'amicizia. La magistrale narrazione di O'Brian immerge i lettori nel cuore del combattimento navale e nelle complessità delle relazioni personali, affermando la sua opera come un apice della narrativa storica. I lettori possono immergersi in un mondo meticolosamente creato dove storia, avventura ed emozione umana si intrecciano con un potere notevole.
A Jack Aubrey è affidato il comando della fregata Surprise per inseguire la Norfolk, una nave americana che veleggia nei mari del Sud e minaccia le baleniere inglesi. La caccia alla preda si rivelerà irta di pericoli ed estenuante, porterà Aubrey e il suo equipaggio dapprima a doppiare il mitico ma miciadiale Capo Horn, poi alle misteriose ma affascinanti Gàlapagos e, infine, tra calme piatte e vicissitudini d'ogni tipo, al remoto arcipelago delle Marchesi, nel bel mezzo del Pacifico, in un viaggio davvero ai confini del mare...
1812: continuano le avventure di mare di Aubrey e Maturin, tra naufragi, salvataggi di fortuna, attacchi, la cattura, la malattia e l'amore, dalla Malesia a Boston.
Jack Aubrey, costretto a terra da troppo tempo, non ha esitazioni quando gli offrono il comando del Leopard, tra ufficiali inetti, marinai scoraggiati, tempeste e impreviste deviazioni, dovrà fare appello a tutta la sua esperienza per sopravvivere e portare a termine la missione.
Assunto il comando di una piccola fregata, la Surprise, Jack Aubrey, in compagnia dell'inseparabile Stephen Maturin (erudito medico di bordo nonché agente segreto), si trova ad affrontare una delle traversate più difficili della sua carriera. Per far giungere in Indonesia un inviato di Sua Maestà britannica, infatti, il suo vascello dovrà scendere fino alle basse latitudini, compiere il periplo dell'Africa e affrontare poi l'oceano Indiano. Ma giunti infine, dopo furiose tempeste e interminabili bonacce, a Calcutta, Aubrey e Maturin si accorgeranno anche che la loro avventura è appena incominciata, perché l'India, fascinosa e inebriante, ha pronte per loro mille sorprese, non esclusi duelli all'ultimo sangue e cocenti delusioni d'amore...
This five-volume set is an ideal gift for Patrick O'Brian fans, featuring the chapters of the unfinished novel he was working on before his death. It showcases the beloved Aubrey/Maturin series, celebrated for its continuous narrative and rich storytelling, making it a fitting tribute to O'Brian's literary legacy.
Jack Aubrey, a former sea-officer in the British Navy and still bitter about his court-martial, agrees to take command of his old ship, the Surprise, which was sold to Dr. Stephen Maturin, who obtained a letter of marque to the use the ship as a privateer.
Captain Jack Aubrey, R. N., ashore after a successful cruise, is persuaded by a casual acquaintance to make certain investments in the City. This innocent decision ensnares him in the London criminal underground and in government espionage—the province of his friend Stephen Maturin. 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 O'Brian's readers have come to expect.
Jack Aubrey's long service is at last rewarded: he is promoted to thhe rank of Commodore, and given a squadron of ships to command. His mission is twofold--to make a large dent in the slave trade off the coast of Africa and, on his return, to intercept a Fench fleet set for Bantry Bay with a cargo of weapons for the disaffected among the Irish
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
fourteenth book in the series.
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
twentieth book in the series. schovat popis
Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. H.M.S. Surprise follows the variable fortunes of Captain Jack Aubrey's career in Nelson's navy as he attempts to hold his ground against admirals, colleagues and the enemy, accepting a mission to convey a British ambassador to the East Indies. The voyage takes him and his friend Stephen Maturin to the strange sights and smells of the Indian sub-continent, and through the archipelago of spice islands where the French have a near-overwhelming superiority. Rarely has a novel managed to convey more vividly the fragility of a sailing ship in a wild sea. Rarely has a historical novelist combined action and lyricism of style in the way that O' Brian does. His superb sense of place, brilliant characterisation, and a vigour and joy of writing lift O'Brian above any but the most exalted of comparisons.
All Patrick O'Brian's strengths are on parade in this novel of action and intrigue, set partly in Malta, partly in the treacherous, pirate-infested waters of the Red Sea. While Captain Aubrey worries about repairs to his ship, Stephen Maturin assumes the center stage for the dockyards and salons of Malta are alive with Napoleon's agents, and the admiralty's intelligence network is compromised. Maturin's cunning is the sole bulwark against sabotage of Aubrey's daring mission.
Captain Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are sent on a decoy mission to the lagoons of the Gulf of Guinea to suppress the slave trade, and ultimately head to Ireland, where the French are building an invasion force.
Jack Aubrey, commander of the best-armed frigate in the Royal Navy, leaves the Dutch East Indies to return to England in a dispatch vessel, but the outbreak of the War of 1812 delays his journey and draws him into bloody battle
Captain Jack Aubrey sets sail for the South China Sea with a new lease on life. Following his dismissal from the Royal Navy (a false accusation), he has earned reinstatement through his daring exploits as a privateer, brilliantly chronicled in The Letter of Marque . Now he is to shepherd Stephen Maturin—his friend, ship's surgeon, and sometimes intelligence agent—on a diplomatic mission to prevent links between Bonaparte and the Malay princes which would put English merchant shipping at risk. The journey of the Diane encompasses a great and satisfying diversity of adventures. Maturin climbs the Thousand Steps of the sacred crater of the orangutans; a killer typhoon catches Aubrey and his crew trying to work the Diane off a reef; and in the barbaric court of Pulo Prabang a classic duel of intelligence agents unfolds: the French envoys, well entrenched in the Sultan's good graces, against the savage cunning of Stephen Maturin.
During the Napoleonic wars, British naval captain Jack Aubrey, charged with capturing the French islands of Reunion and Mauritius, must first cope with his fellow commanders.
The 15th installment in the Aubrey/Maturin series. This splendid installment in Patrick O'Brian's widely acclaimed series of Aubrey/Maturin novels is in equal parts mystery, adventure, and psychological drama. A British whaler has been captured by an ambitious chief in the Friendly Isles (Tonga) at French instigation, and Captain Aubrey, R.N., is dispatched with the Surprise to restore order. But stowed away in the cabletier is an escaped female convict. To the officers, Clarissa Harvill is an object of awkward courtliness and dangerous jealousies. Aubrey himself is won over and indeed strongly attracted to this woman who will not speak of her past. But only Aubrey's friend, Dr. Stephen Maturin, can fathom Clarissa's secrets: her crime, her personality, and a clue identifying a hightly placed English spy in the pay of Napoleon's intelligence service. In a thrilling finale, Patrick O'Brian delivers all the excitement his many readers expect: Aubrey and the crew of the Surprise impose a brutal pax Britannica on the islanders in a pitched battle against a band of headhunting cannibals.
This novel, enriched with excitement, action and grand naval battles, sees Aubrey and Maturin in the thick of Europe's attempt to prevent the French emperor from regaining his power.
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 eighteenth book in the series.
From the moment that Master and Commander , the first of Patrick O'Brian's sequence of 20 novels about the 19th century British Royal Navy officer Jack Aubrey and his surgeon colleague Stephen Maturin, was published in 1970, critics hailed his work as a masterpiece of historical recreation. Called "the best historical novels ever written" by the New York Times , the books have sold millions of copies. This first full-color illustrated companion to the Aubrey-Maturin series, timed to coincide with the release of the blockbuster Twentieth-Century Fox film adaptation starring Russell Crowe, explains the fascinating physical details of Jack Aubrey's fictional world. An in-depth historical reference, it brings to life the political, cultural, and physical setting of O'Brian's novels. Annotated drawings, paintings, and diagrams reveal the complex parts of a ship and its rigging, weaponry, crew quarters and duties, below-deck conditions, and fighting tactics, while maps illustrate the location featured in each novel.
This tale begins with Jack Aubrey arriving home from his exploits in the Mediterranean to find England at peace following the Treaty of Amiens. He and his friend Stephen Maturin, surgeon and secret agent, begin to live the lives of country gentlemen, hunting, entertaining and enjoying more amorous adventures. Their comfortable existence, however, is cut short when Jack is overnight reduced to a pauper with enough debts to keep him in prison for life. He flees to the continent to seek refuge: instead he finds himself a hunted fugitive as Napoleon has ordered the internment of all Englishmen in France. Aubrey's adventures in escaping from France and the debtors' prison will grip the reader as fast as his unequalled actions at sea.
Amid sights and smells of the Indian subcontinent explore ships of the East India Company. Aubrey is on the defensive, pitting wits and seamanship against an enemy enjoying overwhelming local superiority. Somewhere in the Indian Ocean lies the prize that could make him rich - ships sent by Napoleon to attack the China Fleet.
The protagonist of this story is Peter Palafox, son of a poor Irish parson, who signs on as a midshipman, never before having seen a ship. Together with his life-long friend, Peter sets out to seek his fortune, embarking on a journey of danger, disappointment, and excitement.
Captain Bligh (yes, the guy from the Bounty ) needs to be rescued, and the Royal Navy has the perfect man for the job: Captain Jack Aubrey. With his friend and cloak-and-dagger expert Stephen Maturin in tow, Aubrey sets off for Australia. Several factors, including an attractive spy and a small-scale epidemic, conspire to change his plans, and before long his frigate is being pursued into Antarctic waters by a Dutch man-of-war.
Two Classic Novels from the Author of MASTER AND COMMANDER
400pagine
14 ore di lettura
In this volume, Patrick O’Brian’s two debut novels offer insight into the literary genius behind the Master and Commander series. Caesar, O’Brian’s first novel written at age fourteen, tells the captivating and brutal tale of a unique Panda Leopard, born to a giant panda father and a snow leopard mother. With O’Brian’s characteristic dry wit and precision, readers witness Caesar’s tragic childhood, his capture and taming, and his eventual rise to fatherhood under human masters. Upon publication, the book garnered acclaim, leading to O’Brian being likened to a ‘boy-Thoreau.’ Hussein, O’Brian’s second novel, is an adventurous narrative centered on a young mahout, or elephant handler, navigating life among elephants. Set against the vibrant backdrop of India during the British Raj, this exotic tale encompasses themes of love, murder, vengeance, and triumph, with the New York Times favorably comparing it to Kipling’s Kim, calling it ‘a gorgeous entertainment.’ O’Brian noted that writing this book taught him the fundamentals of storytelling and opened a well of joy that remains. Originally published in 1930 and 1938, these novels were reprinted in 1999 by the British Library, and this new edition presents them together for the first time.
The Complete Short Stories is the most comprehensive collection of O'Brian's
short fiction ever published. An essential volume, certain to enchant O'Brian
admirers as well as readers who are fortunate enough to be journeying with him
for the very first time.
It is the dawn of the nineteenth century; Britain is at war with Napoleon's France. When Jack Aubrey, a young lieutenant in Nelson's navy, is promoted to captain, he inherits command of HMS Sophie, an old, slow brig unlikely to make his fortune. But Captain Aubrey is a brave and gifted seaman, his thirst for adventure and victory immense. With the aid of his friend Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and secret intelligence agent, Aubrey and his crew engage in one thrilling battle after another, their journey culminating in a stunning clash with a mighty Spanish frigate against whose guns and manpower the tiny Sophie is hopelessly outmatched.
Out of print for many years, this is a brand new edition of the definitive
companion to the acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series of novels, written by the
author himself.
At the time of his death, Patrick O'Brian had begun to write a novel to follow
on from Blue at the Mizzen, the twentieth book in the classic series. These
are the chapters he had completed of the final voyage of Jack Aubrey and
Stephen Maturin - the greatest friendship of modern literature
This collection of short stories are about country life and the open air and were first published in the 1950s. Patrick O'Brian is the author of Clarissa Oakes, The Wine-Dark Sea and Testimonies.
Back in print and now in hardback, the deeply personal and ingenious literary
first novel written under Patrick O’Brian’s own name, newly introduced by
Nikolai Tolstoy.
Příběh začíná v okamžiku, kdy se Jack Aubrey vrací domů po svých eskapádách ve Středozemním moři. Británie prožívá období míru, následujícího po příměří v Amiensu. Spolu s přítelem lékařem Stephenem Maturinem začíná vést život venkovského gentlemana - věnuje se lovu, zábavě a milostným zápletkám. Jejich pohodlné žití je však náhle ukončeno, když se z Jacka přes noc stane chuďas s tolika dluhy, že by mohl zbytek života strávit ve vězení. Prchá na kontinent, aby zde našel spásu. Místo toho se však stane pronásledovaným uprchlíkem, neboť Napoleon nařídil internaci všech Angličanů, nalézajících se ve Francii. Aubreyho dobrodružství při úniku z Francie a před vězením pro dlužníky uchvátí pozornost čtenářů stejně silně jako jeho nedostižné šarvátky na moři.
Die Brigg Wager ist eines der Versorgungsschiffe des Geschwaders von Kommodore Anson bei dessen legendärer Weltumseglung der Jahre 1740/44. Mit an Bord ein Freundespaar, der pfiffige Midshipman Jack Byron und der gelehrte, aber weltfremde Hilfsarzt Tobias Barrow, beide junge Engländer. In den sturmgepeitschten Gewässern vor Kap Hoorn gerät die Wager in Seenot und strandet schließlich vor Patagonien. Ein dramatischer Überlebenskampf der bereits zuvor durch Hunger, Kälte und Krankheit dezimierten Besatzung ums nackte Überleben beginnt?
This time it's the War of 1812 that gets in the way of Captain Jack Aubery's plans. Caught en route to England in a dispatch vessel, Aubrey and Maturin are soon in the thick of a typically bloody naval engagement. Next stop: an American prison, from which only Maturin's cunning allows them to engineer an exit.
Un salon de musique, en 1800. On y écoute le quatuor en ut majeur de Locatelli. L'un des auditeurs bat la mesure. Cela indispose son voisin, un jeune homme triste et pauvre, qui lui donne un coup de poing dans les côtes. L'affront doit être lavé. Ainsi, avec l'un de ces duels qui avaient déjà guidé d'Artagnan vers les Mousquetaires, naît une amitié hors du commun entre Jack Aubrey, lieutenant puis capitaine de la Royal Navy à l'époque des guerres napoléoniennes, et le Dr Stephen Maturin, chirurgien, ornithologue et agent secret de Sa Très Gracieuse Majesté. Réunis en un seul volume, les deux premiers tomes d'une oeuvre pleine de finesse et d'humour au succès mondial.
Das ist der unvollendete Band 21 der Reihe Kapitän Jack Aubrey und Doktor Stephen Maturin, an dem Patrick O'Brian bis zu seinem Tod schrieb. Er führt die Handlung des vorhergehenden Bandes „Der Dank der Navy“ fort. Auch wenn nicht bekannt ist, wie O’Brian die Geschichte fortführen wollte, ist es doch interessant, wie er die Geschichte anlegt. So bringt auch dieser unvollendete Roman ein letztes Mal den Genuss, den der Autor uns bereitet hat und lässt uns Abschied nehmen von Aubrey und Maturin. Die Übersetzung erfolgte durch Kapt. Uwe D. Minge, der ein Experte für historische maritime Romane ist.
18. April 1800 in Port Mahon, einem Seehafen der britischen Marine auf Menorca. Jack Aubrey, Leutnant der Royal Navy, ist überglücklich: Er hat sein erstes Kommando erhalten. Zwar ist die altmodische kleine Kriegsslup Sophie mit ihren zwei Masten und vierzehn Kanonen nicht gerade das, was man ein Schiff ersten Ranges nennen würde, aber der frischgebackene Kapitän liebt sie vom ersten Augenblick an. Was ihm noch fehlt, ist ein Schiffsarzt, und den beschert ihm das Schicksal: Als Jack sich nach einer ersten unheilvollen Begegnung mit dem Naturforscher und Philosophen Dr. Stephen Maturin, die fast in einem Duell geendet hätte, beim Abendessen versöhnen will, entdecken die beiden ihre gemeinsame Liebe für die Musik, und Aubrey macht Maturin das Angebot, als Mediziner an Bord zu kommen. Der zweiflerische Maturin ist eine ausgesprochene Landratte, aber wer könnte ihn besser in die Seefahrt einführen als ein taktisch so versierter und talentierter Seemann wie Jack Aubrey? Und so sticht die Sophie mit den beiden neuen Freunden und einer tapferen Mannschaft in See, um einen Handelskonvoi zu begleiten. Doch die Gemütlichkeit währt nicht lange: Das Kriegsschiff steuert auf ehrenvollere - und auch weit gefährlichere - Abenteuer zu …
Jack Aubrey vertritt den Kapitän der Lively beim Blockadedienst im Mittelmeer. Gerade noch hat er mit der Besatzung auf Sophies und seine Verlobung angestoßen, als sich der Wind für ihn dreht: Das Preisgeld für Aubreys jüngste Eroberung an der portugiesischen Küste fällt wesentlich niedriger aus als erwartet, und Jack steckt elftausend Pfund tief in den Schulden. Zwar bekommt sein Schiffsarzt Stephen Maturin ihn vorerst aus dem Gefängnis frei, doch Sophies Mutter besteht darauf, dass die Heirat verschoben wird. Ein unerwarteter Auftrag gibt dem Kapitän neuen Auftrieb: Mit der H. M. S. Surprise soll Aubrey einen britischen Botschafter nach Ostasien befördern. Stephen ist natürlich mit dabei;er hofft, in Indien seine große Liebe Diana wiederzusehen. Ihre Reise führt die beiden Freunde quer über den Atlantik und rund um das Kap der Guten Hoffnung durch den Indischen Ozean, an fremdartige Orte wie Brasilien und die Gewürzinseln und bringt sie mit exotischen Pflanzen, Tieren und Düften in Kontakt. Weit weg von zu Hause erwarten sie Gefahren, die alle ihre bisherigen Abenteuer in den Schatten stellen.
Kapitänsleutnant Jack Aubrey genießt seinen verdienten Landurlaub: Fuchsjagden, anständige Musik, hier und da ein Opernbesuch. Sein letztes Gefecht, in dem er mit seiner kleinen Vierzehn-Kanonen-Brigg Sophie die spanische Schebeckenfregatte Cacafuego erobert hat, war monatelang in aller Munde und hat ihm Ruhm und Anerkennung eingebracht. Da erhält Aubrey einen Brief: Sein Prisenagent hat ihn um die verdienten Anteilsgelder betrogen. Nicht nur seine Karriere gerät jetzt in gefährliche Fahrwasser, für die Mutter der jungen Frau, in die er sich verliebt hat, wird er auch zu einem inakzeptablen Heiratskandidaten. Um dem Schuldgefängnis zu entgehen, flieht Aubrey zusammen mit seinem Freund und Schiffsarzt Dr. Stephen Maturin Hals über Kopf außer Landes. Erst als die beiden wieder Planken unter die Füße bekommen, kann Aubrey erneut beweisen, was in ihm steckt. Die zweifelhafte Belohnung für seine Verdienste: Das Kommando der Polychrest, einer schwimmenden Fehlkonstruktion, mit der er Napoleons Truppen in einem ihrer eigenen Häfen attackieren soll …