Hornblower and the Hotspur

The year is 1802. Horatio Hornblower has just married but is unsure whether or not the decision was the right one. There are other uncertainties too — Britain's peace with France, for one, and the direction of the new century. This is Hornblower and the Hotspur, one of the best loved books in a series that is already adored by legions of fans, and among the most iconic adventures for the titular seafaring hero.

C.S. Forester was in the final years of his life when he penned this installment, but he was still a writer at the very height of his powers. This work is a testament to that and sees the author in fine form as he charts another nail-biting adventure for Horatio Hornblower and his crew. True historical events and real figures mix with products of the author's own creativity to craft an alternate timeline for Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. While this is some distance from providing a historical document, it does capture the ethos of patriotism, heroism, and struggle that characterized European history at the dawn of the 19th Century.