A new episode in an acclaimed series follows Lieutenant Alan Lewrie to the bloody battle for the French port of Toulon during the French Revolution--a battle that includes an obscure young artillery brigadier named Napoleon Bonaparte.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
As in the five earlier novels chronicling the adventures of 18th-century British naval lieutenant Alan Lewrie (The Gun Ketch, etc.), Lambdin here serves up a fast-moving yarn loaded with action, colorful characters and marvelous period detail. In 1792, war clouds from France threaten to spread the storm of the Revolution across Europe, prompting the Admiralty to recall Lewrie from his comfortable life as a gentleman farmer in Surrey. After a brief stint in charge of a press-gang rounding up "deserters," Alan is named first officer of the frigate Cockerel. The burden of serving under the neurotic, overbearing Captain Braxton is eased somewhat by an excursion to Naples, where Alan meets, and forgets his marriage vows, with the lusty Lady Emma Hamilton. Later, Alan is assigned to shore duty at Toulon, where a pocket of Royalists is under siege by Revolutionaries. There, the lieutenant encounters then-Colonel Napoleon Bonaparte and, after the city's evacuation, manages, with stylish seamanship and cunning, to become something of a hero. This is Lambdin's usual satisfying brew, leavened with welcome humor-as when Lady Hamilton, at a crucial amatory moment, coos, "I'll never in my life know... what it is... 'bout me, and sailors!"
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
Dewey Lambdin is the author of fourteen previous Alan Lewrie novels. A member of the U.S. Naval Institute and a Friend of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England, he spends his free time working and sailing (he's been a sailor since 1976). He makes his home in Nashville, Tennessee, but would much prefer Margaritaville or Murrell's Inlet.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lewrie is Back to War and Adventure After the Calm of Peacetime,
By
This review is from: H.M.S. Cockerel (Alan Lewrie) (Hardcover)
Landed for four years of peace-time, Alan Lewrie has been applying himself as gentleman-farmer, home-owner, father of three and loving husband with nary an adventure in sight and pure as a choir-boy. Can this idyllic state last long for ol' Ram-cat? Of course not. War is rumored and the Admiralty calls. Lewrie can refuse to go, after all, he was forced to sea at 17 and never wished for glory and death and deprivation, but... even with no irate husbands chasing him to sea this time, Lewrie can't resist going back to the one thing he knows he is good at (or, rather, one of the more admirable things he knows he's good at).One of the fun elements in this series is that life doesn't run smoothly for Lewrie. His first assignment is hazardous, but not in the way he wished for, and when he finally gets a break to go as First in the H. M. S. Cockerel, things are less than ideal as well. At least the ship is a goer and there's the possibility of sea action. Lewrie has to negotiate more treacherous seas aboard ship than against the enemy as England gears up for war with Revolutionary France, but as with previous books, the pacing is steady and eventful, even during long cruises and being shifted to land action trying to keep a foothold in Toulon. And as before, war brings danger ashore for Lewrie in the form of bold and attractive women. Balancing these wild adventures are Lewrie's fears that he is a sham as a leader (flawed, he may be, but we know he is a more-than competent leader, which adds to the interest), and his amusing, somewhat feeble attempts to behave himself morally. He does mean well, though, so he remains an engaging hero both despite and because of his failures and triumphs. I continue to be entertained and thrilled by these adventures. At this point, I am dedicated to the enjoyment to be found in reading every Lewrie book that has been and will be written, since I have not been disappointed in any way thus far. The depiction of life at sea, the battles, the sense of period, the politics, the danger, the adventure and the personalities of all involved are exquisitely laid out in a wonderful feast for any reader who wishes to essay it. The series should be read in order if possible: 1. The King's Coat, 2. The French Admiral, 3. The King's Commission, 4. The King's Privateer, 5. The Gun Ketch, 6. H.M.S. Cockerel.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Alan Lewrie meets the French Revolution,
By
This review is from: H.M.S. Cockerel (Alan Lewrie) (Hardcover)
Lieutenant Alan Lewrie seems to be getting good at this navy thing. In this sixth in the series, it's January 1793 and four years have passed since Lewrie returned home to his wife and kiddies (three of them now); the matrimonial state, as well as playing the almost-squire, is beginning to wear on him just a bit. The French Revolution is under way, though, and renewed war with a very different sort of France is in the air. Lewrie is called up by the Admiralty (he debates whether to accept for, oh, . . . two minutes), but his enemies see to it that he gets shunted to the Impress Service. But that provides an opportunity to get his own back with his detestable half-brother, Gerald, so it's not all wasted time. Then he gets posted to COCKEREL, a 5th Rate frigate under the hard hand of Capt. Braxton, an ultra-nepotistical near-psychopath who is determined that this last opportunity in his career to make his mark will go absolutely perfectly -- even if he has to flog every member of the crew and bully every officer to do it. Lewrie is between the proverbial rock and hard place, between a micro-managing captain who is impossible to please but whose will he must enforce, and a crew nearing mutiny. But all that, while a very well painted portrait of a ship on its way to disaster, is still only the background for the set-piece of this book, which is the disastrous Allied capture and occupation of, and final rout from, the Royalist Mediterranean city of Toulon -- the victim of divisive party politics back in London. Of course, no matter how much Lewrie might truly love his wife, he still can't keep his breeches zipped. First, there's Lady Emma Hamilton in Naples (and he gets there before Nelson), and then there's the adorable little French whore, Zoe, whom he rescues from death at the hands of the Republicans. But Lewrie's big discovery is just how loud a bang a naval mortar can make. And there's also an encounter on the beach with an artillery colonel named Buonaparte, just to keep things interesting. And, by the end of the story, our lieutenant -- now over the hill (in his opinion) at age thirty -- makes his next jump up the ladder of success. An excellent episode in the series. (And Waterloo is still twenty-two years away!)
4.0 out of 5 stars
HMS Cockerel,
By Bruce Barrett (Whitehorse, Yukon Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: H.M.S. Cockerel (Alan Lewrie) (Hardcover)
This is the first Alan Lewrie novel I've read, and though starting in the middle of a series might be off-putting, I was instantly hooked. There are some great character profiles here, particularly the weak and horrible Captain Braxton. Lewrie is a great mixture of the upright English imperial master of all he surveys while at sea, and on shore, a captive of the baser desires. The only shorcoming of this novel is the excessive use of outrageous Frrrench accents (to borrow from Monty Python) by some minor characters, that grated. Problem being, every French character seemed to 'ave exactement zee same amount of mal Ainglish at zer deesposal. Otherwise, a great read.
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