Customer Reviews

Commodore Hornblower (Hornblower Saga)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Commodore Hornblower was Forester's first attempt to replicate the pre-war success of his Horatio Hornblower trilogy; Beat to Quarters, Ship of the Line and Flying Colours. After emerging victorious from the greatest war in human history, would his readership still be interested in a more distant conflict? The answer was "Yes", but Forester made sure by including strong parallels between the Napoleonic Wars and World War II. The result, as a historical novel, was as relevant to the readers of the day as if it had been written about WWII. Commodore Hornblower works as a historical novel of the Napoleonic era and as a reminder of the immense struggles and sacrifices of WWII.

Commodore Hornblower begins with Hornblower leaving his new wife and son to return to sea. How poignant this passage must have been for the first post-war readers. Hornblower, now in charge of a small squadron, must take his ships into the Baltic past hostile Danes and Swedes who maintain a sinister neutrality. What follows is a series of naval and land engagements that are typical of this type of novel. However nobody surpassed Forester in telling exciting yet realistic action stories. The battle scenes are both exciting and exhilarating yet horrifying at the same time.

During his stint in the Baltic, Hornblower rubs shoulders with the Tsar of Russia, Marshal Bernadotte of Sweden and the warrior/philosopher Clausewitz. Hornblower must try and win over those hanging onto to neutrality by a thread and those siding with the tyrant Napoleon. As always he acquits himself well although he is his own worst critic.

While Commodore Hornblower works as both an action novel and a historical novel, I think that it might have lost some of the impact that it had when it was first published. The parallels for the British people in 1940 and 1812 are very strong. There is a tyrant dominating Europe who is both willing and able to throw away far more lives than the British could manage or accept. There is Russia siding with the tyrant, invading Finland and ultimately resisting the tyrant's invasion from the west. There is Europe ready for an uprising to overthrow the tyrant. And, of course, there is Britain standing alone against the might of the entire continent until forces can be rallied to defeat the tyrant. Commodore Hornblower is a story of heroism in the Napoleonic era but it was published at the right time to remind the British people of the heroism that they had so recently shown. It's a marvelous sequel and worthy successor to Forester's pre-war efforts.

Start with Midshipman Hornblower and take a vacation. You won't put any book in the series down until you finish them all.

Commodore Hornblower is an excellent continuation of the adventures of Horatio Hornblower. Fresh from his dramatic victory in Spain and France, Hornblower is dispatched to the Baltic. His mission is to both frustrate Napoleon and support Russia, one of the few nations yet to be conquered by the tyrant.

The result is a tale that fits in perfectly with the Hornblower cannon. Horatio's adventures in the Baltic cover the whole gamut from challenging French privateers to foiling assassination plots to fending off a siege in Riga. And Forester levens the action with a constant reminder of the historical context. 1812 was possibly the most desperate year for England, when it seemed the whole world was against her. (Although, perhaps with his audience in mind, Forester tacitly left out the fact that Britain was at war with America as well. For history buffs, this omission is conspicuous.)

Hornblower is his usual compelling self -- brave, brilliant but with his dark sides. He make decisions and has thoughts that would be considered far too complex and realistic for today's action heroes. I found myself as fascinated by Hornblower himself as I was by the thrilling action scenes.

This is an excellent continuation of the Hornblower series.

This Hornblower novel was a very good one. A lot of it is about politics on land just before and during the beginning stages of Napolean's invasion of Russia.

Hornblower has some new fangled weapons that he has never used before. Bomb ketches. He has two of them. What they really are is small vessels containing two 13 inch mortars each. The are ideal for bombarding with a plunging fire over walls and other obstacles. Incredibly accurate and very destructive. Hornblower has two occasions on which to use them. And, as might be expected, with great success.

Anyway, Hornblower is made commodore of a small squadron of ships, including Nonsuch captained by none other than his life long friend, Bush. He is set upon a mission to assist the Russians in the Baltic in any way in which he see fit. Perfect orders for someone that is willing to think outside the box.

Hornblower ends up sinking a French privateer. As can be expected, the French are outraged and invade the small country of Pomerania in defiance. This causes the Russions to become a little upset. Eventually, the French launch the invasion of Russia. The Russians are soundly beaten on all fronts except for the small port town of Riga. Hornblower is able to help with the defense of the town and it's approaches. He even leads an infantry assault into the French trench line.

This is another good book. Not a whole lot of naval action, but enough to keep the nautically minded interested. Lots of politics and history though. There is not a lot of information on the Baltic theatre of the war. Napolean was being attacked and beaten in the south by Wellington. For some unknown reason, Napolean thought that it would be a good time to attack Russia. His invasion started during the summer. They were in moscow by November. But Russia's ally, Old Man Winter, was waiting. He chased the French all the way back to Poland and beyond. During the withdrawal of the French, his allies were defecting left and right. First the Spanish and the Portugese. A few weeks later the Austriand and Germans, then the Prussians.

Well worth the read.

In Commodore, Forester takes our hero to the Baltic Sea to intervene in the war between the Russians and Napoleon. Now on the top half of the Captains list, Hornblower is given command of a small squadron of ships and sent north in as much of a political gambit as a naval one. There are no real naval threats to Hornblower's fleet, a few coastal raiders on British shipping, but the one they find is easily dispatched. Forester spends time detailing the use of bomb vessels, ungainly ships with large mortars in the center. They are used to shell and destroy a ship in a harbor and enemy positions on shore. When Napoleon attacks Russia he sends one army north towards St. Petersburg along the eastern most end of the Baltic, and of course Commodore Hornblower is there to save the day and negotiate a switch of sides by the Prussians. It's a little short on naval lore and a little long on period politics. A contrived dalliance with a Russian lady gives Hornblower flees, and then typhus. At the time it was written it was pretty unusual to have an adulterous affair in a fiction of this kind. It gives more variety to our understanding of British Naval operations in another area of the world.

Most Hornblower fans will either be strongly attracted to this story . . . or strongly repelled by it.

In the beginning, this book's mood shifts greatly from the earlier books now that Hornblower is rich and famous, and happily married to Lady Barbara. His glittering brothers-in-law are off winning critical battles, and Hornblower feels like he needs to keep winning some semblance of renown in order to retain Lady Barbara's respect. The book starts off slowly, therefore, in setting the stage for Captain Sir Horatio Hornblower's elevated status in society and in the fleet.

As a commodore, Hornblower has a small squadron under his command, including one ship of the line, the Nonsuch (seventy four guns), commanded by Captain Bush. Hornblower's orders give him the "widest latitude of discretion to enter the Baltic Sea and create problems for Bonaparte, who is threatening both Sweden and Russia in the spring of 1812. Secretly, his brother-in-law, foreign secretary Marquis Wellesley, warns Hornblower that he should be prepared to assist the Czar in leaving St. Petersburg should Napoleon invade and overrun Russia. Within the Baltic, the Russians have 14 ships of the line, and the Swedes almost as many.

Nearing the Baltic, Hornblower knows that the Danes are hostile, having been conquered by the French. So he steers away from their batteries nearing the Baltic. But are the Swedes still neutral? There's only one way to find out. Run under their batteries and see if they fire?

Political events rapidly develop, aided by Hornblower's diplomacy and deceptions. By winter, the Grande Armee has invaded Russia, reached Moscow, and been shattered by the Russian weather. Hornblower, in the meantime, is attempting to thwart an attack through Latvia aimed at capturing the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. The action, once it begins, will remind you somewhat of the best parts of Ship of the Line.

For those who wish to follow the armed conflicts in the book, I suggest you refer to the Hornblower Companion's maps to see where the action is set.

Two other new elements become important in this story. Hornblower is getting older, and begins to develop an interest in his younger officers not unlike a father would have for a son. Yet these "sons" are in deadly peril. How will that affect Hornblower?

The other new perspective is that Hornblower spends a lot of time with diplomats, political figures, and even heads of state. These added dimensions will be attractive to those who would like to see new sides to Hornblower. If you read a lot of historical fiction, you will find this book comes closer to the classic story where the fictional character interacts frequently with well known historical figures.

Since Hornblower and Bush are both captains, you find their relationship becoming more like equals as it was in Lieutenant Hornblower. I enjoyed that shift.

Much like Hornblower and the Atropos, Commodore Hornblower takes some interesting looks at new technology, including naval mortars and methods for reducing the draft of bomb-ketches.

How can a leader set a good example? How should setting the right example be balanced with the need to get the right results? In Commodore Hornblower, Hornblower is torn between leading all of the action and encouraging his men to do the right thing. It's obviously a delicate balance that you will enjoy as Hornblower once again foils the Corsican tyrant in his own small way.

I liked this novel tremendously. In this one, Hornblower is dispatched to the Baltic in command of a squadron of British vessels, as Britain's struggle with Napoleon nears its climax. Hornblower must deal with all of the usual problems of command, and additionally he must, in fact, also concern himself with high affairs of state. Forester combines these factors brilliantly into a facinating look at Europe during this time period.

I found this novel to be particularly vivid in its portrayal of Hornblower marauding about in the Baltic. You can practically feel the cold Baltic air, see the ice flows, hear the cannon, and see the armies ashore battling one another. Hornblower as usual is in the thick of things. This book in my opinion never drags although the storyline is somewhat more complex than the usual Hornblower novel.

Fans of Hornblower won't want to miss this one. And if you are not a Hornblower afficianado, then what are you waiting for?

As a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, I have a natural inclination towards nautical themes. I have fallen in love again with the Hornblower series. I just read them all back to back during the last year.

This book was very good, but I must admit it was my least favorite of the series. Very dark. The darkness of Forester's life at this time came through. And I felt the relationship with the Countess served little purpose in the book.

However, I felt that the book's military and nautical themes were very well done. Much like today's navy, Hornblower is engaged in a latorial warfare. His cunning and superb skills show through. One learns how he deals with his subordinate skippers, some good and some not so good.

As with the rest of the series, I will want my son to read about Hornblower, so as to learn duty, honor, sacrifice and the inward pains and costs of infidelity.

This was my first introduction to Horatio Hornblower, and I'm hooked...couldn't put this down, or any of the next two either.

Hornblower is made a commodore and given a small fleet, and sent to the Baltic to ensure the safety of maritime trade. The local threat to British shipping is dealt with in short order, but the diplomatic situation quickly becomes complicated as the neutrality of Sweden and Russia are threatened. Will the Sweden be dragged into the war on the side of Napoleon, will Russia submit to French mastery of Europe?

Hornblower has the opportunity to dine with the czar and participate in the seige of Riga. By the end of the novel, his health is spent, the tide of the war is turned, and you care intensely about the next chapter of the saga.

In the eighth volume of the series Commodore Horatio Hornblower, with his own squadron of ships, is bound for the Baltic. It is 1812 and Hornblower must protect the trade and stop the spread of Napoleon's empire into Sweden and Russia. Hostile armies, Russian royalty and ice-bound bays are just SOME of the trouble Hornblower will have to deal with. He even gets to meet Colonel Clausewitz! Will Hornblower ever return to his new wife and son, or will he be trapped in Russia with white skinned ladies of the court, drinking vodka and feasting on meals fit for a King?