Hornblower and the “Hotspur” by CS Forester
The third (chronologically) and tenth (as written) book in the Horatio Hornblower series and another in the list of books I’ve always meant to read.
On the verge of war with Napolean, the Hotspur, Horatio Hornblower commanding, is sent to patrol off the coast of Brest on the Breton penninsula of France. The time is spent mapping the coast, making friends (and spies) of fishing captains, and running highly successful raiding parties of the garrisons and lookout posts after war is declared.
The ship is later assigned to a blockade of Cadiz after Spain enters the war. Hornblower deals with a “deserting” steward, a marriage he’s not entirely happy about to a woman he respects but doesn’t necessarily love, a mother-in-law who is a handful, a lack of treasure, and bad weather.
Not much swashbuckling, but lots of derring-do. There’s enough nautical jargon to get the milieu to life, but not so much that the reader is lost and confused by it. The modern writing (Forester died in 1966) helps with this as well, whereas someone like, say, Melville who wrote in the 1800s can go on for three pages with one sentence can be tiresome.
An excellent read.
