The Real Hornblower: The Life and Times of Admiral Sir James Gordon, GCB [Paperback]

Bryan Perrett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 17, 2000

Ever since C.S. Forester's fictional hero Horatio Hornblower began to delight readers, there has been speculation that his adventures were based on the career of a real naval officer. Several names were suggested, but the general conclusion was that Hornblower was a composite character. In this thoroughly researched book the author argues convincingly that Forester's model was Adm. James Gordon, a flesh-and-blood hero of Nelson's navy. Gordon entered the Royal Navy as a semi-literate eleven-year-old and rose to become Admiral of the Fleet. He took part in major sea battles, frigate actions, single-ship duels, and operations far behind enemy lines. It was the fire of Gordon's ships against Fort McHenry that inspired the American national anthem. When he died, after more than seventy-five years of service in the navy, The Times called him "the last of Nelson's captains."

To support his claim, Bryan Perrett points to The Commodore and Hornblower's venture into the Baltic to harass the seaward flank of Napoleon's army during its retreat from Moscow as a remarkable parallel to Gordon's invasion up the Chesapeake in 1814 and his return down the Potomac with twenty-one prizes. He explains that Forester lived in the United States at the time he wrote The Commodore and fearful of offending his American readers, studiously obscured the identity of the real Hornblower.

In telling the largely unknown story of Admiral Gordon's active service career, the book will be appreciated not only by the thousands of readers who have enjoyed the adventures of Hornblower, but also by those interested in the naval warfare of the Napoleonic period. Readers who enjoy biography will find that they have the added bonus of an absorbing literary and historical detective story.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press (May 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557509689
• ISBN-13: 978-1557509680
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,950,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Moderately interesting, particularly for Hornblower fans, February 1, 2002

By 

Kevin W. Parker (Greenbelt, MD) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Real Hornblower: The Life and Times of Admiral Sir James Gordon, GCB (Paperback)

This was a moderately interesting real-life account of a British sea captain contemporaneous with the Hornblower books. As such, it makes for an interesting comparison between fact and fiction, and, as the author says, sometimes the former is even more extraordinary than the latter.

The author doesn't fully prove his case that Hornblower was based on Gordon, though there are some striking parallels. The most notable one is that Gordon came up the Chesapeake as a commodore with a small fleet very similar to the one that Hornblower led into the Baltic. (What the author finds suspicious is that Forester wrote a naval history of this period that glosses over this incident, perhaps due to the similarities with Hornblower.) The author uses footnotes and an introduction to point out other points of commonality.

As I said, moderately interesting, particularly to a Hornblower reader, but not particularly a page-turner.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Supplement to Horatio Hornblower Series, April 6, 2000

By 

Karen M McIver (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Real Hornblower: The Life and Times of Admiral Sir James Gordon, GCB (Paperback)

"The Real Hornblower" is a surprisingly in-depth book following and examining the life of Admiral Sir James Gordon. Perrett has obviously researched Gordon under a microscope, as there is very few sections of his life that are not covered. The book begins with a short examination of C. S. Forester, and his creation of Horatio Hornblower, and then delves into Gordon's life, through newpaper articals, personal letters, ship logs, and Gordon's own unpublished auto-biography. In addition to following Gordon, Perrett gives a very acurate historical account of the wars and politics (which revolve around the European and American naval fleets) during the time that Gordon was alive, make this an excellent naval history or reference book as well. For anyone who has read C. S. Forester's series on Horatio Hornblower, this book is an excellent supplement, allowing you to see a different side of 'Hornblower' in Admiral Sir James Gordon.