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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mutiny, betrayal and batlle in the West Indies in the 1780's,
This review is from: To Glory We Steer (The Bolitho Novels) (Volume 5) (Paperback)
Though Richard Bolitho is old enough and experienced enough to be taking on his first frigate command as this book opens, it is in fact the first of the Bolitho novels to have been published. A tyrannical previous captain has driven the crew to the edge of mutiny and as Bolitho sails for the West Indies for the closing stages of the American War of Independence his own crew is as much a threat to him as is the enemy. A skilfully handled American Privateer almost brings Bolitho's career to a premature end and the identity of its captain is such as to rub salt in the wound. Despite all, Bolitho battles back with courage, indomitability and humane leadership and forges his crew and ship into a single weapon that comes victoriously through the decisive Battle of the Saintes, the last of the war. One stalwart supporter of Bolitho makes his exit in glory while another, Allday, makes his first appearance in a most dramatic way. All the best features of the other novels in the series - convincing characterisation, absorbing technical detail, exciting action sequences and a strong plot line - are apparent in this earliest-published adventure.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mutiny thwarted,
By
This review is from: To Glory We Steer (The Bolitho Novels) (Volume 5) (Paperback)
Kent is a first rate story-teller. His main concern is the story, rather than a mass of technical detail about ship's rigs, sails, etc., which are of interest to some of us, but of less interest, perhaps, to those who simply want to get on with the story. None of his stories drag. There is action a-plenty, including lurid descriptions of men getting their heads blown off and their limbs amputated. Hand-to-hand combat is common in boarding parties and on dry land expeditions. I have some personal experience with sailing vessels, having built and sailed my own ketch-rigged sailboat on the Pacific with my family, and so far as I can tell Kent's sail handling descriptions, although necessarily abbreviated for the sake of the story, are technically accurate. I am more familiar with fore and aft rigs than square riggers, though. This book concerns the end period of the American Revolution. Bolitho's Phalarope is operating in the West Indies. It is refreshing to see that war through the eyes of a British naval officer, and it rings with truth. The final battle, pitting the French Admiral De Grasse against the British George Rodney and Hood, at the sea battle known as the battle of the Saintes, in the Caribbean, ends in glory for Bolitho. Bolitho is called upon to command the Phalarope after the death of a harsh captain who drove his crew to the edge of mutiny, and to make matters worse, his complement was filled out with rogues who were not wanted by other ships of the fleet, by an admiral who disliked him. This is a very good book, which, if you are like me, you will enjoy and find it hard to put down. Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If you like the Hornblower books, you'll like this!,
By "avian1" (Temple City, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: To Glory We Steer (The Bolitho Novels) (Volume 5) (Paperback)
Alexander Kent is often compared to C.S. Forester, and the Bolitho books are a worthy successor to Hornblower's adventures. Richard Bolitho is somewhat like Hornblower, a sensitive, humanitarian officer, who often goes beyond the letter of his orders to storm his way to victory. He forms a lifelong friendship with Thomas Herrick, who first appears in the series and in this book, as Bush is a friend to Hornblower, but there are a number of differences. We see a lot more of Bolitho's family than we ever knew of Hornblower, his dad, who has been retired by injuries from the sea, a family with a long tradition of seamen, a brother who deserts and comes back to haunt Richard's path, and more family down the road. But one thing that dominates these books, and those who have run out of Hornblower books to read will love, is a wonderfully rich description of life on sailing ships in the Royal Navy, although this book, the earliest written, leaves us at the end with something of an anti-climax at the battle of the Saintes. That would really be my only criticism--but it is a wonderfully exciting tale of derring-do. Bolitho even has to contend, not just with a ship that has run away from battle at the start, before he assumed command, but he has to keep his ship from mutiny again as the story unfolds. I like Bolitho, I think, almost as well as Hornblower.
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