Second to None (Charnwood Library) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Alexander Kent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2001 | Series: Charnwood Library

June 1815. On the eve of Waterloo, a sense of finality and cautious hope pervade a nation wearied by decades of war. But peace will present its own challenge to Adam Bolitho, captain of His Majesty's Ship Unrivalled, as many of his contemporaries face the prospect of discharge. The life of a frigate captain is always lonely, but for Adam, mourning the death of his uncle Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho, that solitude acquires a deeper poignancy. He is, more than ever, alone, at the dawning of a new age for the Royal Navy, where the only constants are the sea and those enemies, often masked in the guise of friendship, who conspire to destroy him.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alexander Kent is the author of twenty-seven acclaimed books featuring Richard Bolitho. Under his own name, Douglas Reeman, and in the course of a career spanning forty-five years, he has written over thirty novels and two non-fiction books.

From AudioFile

Kent's popular Bolitho series presses on, despite the demise of Admiral Richard Bolitho. The series, and this work, now centers on Captain Adam Bolitho, nephew of the late admiral and captain of the frigate HMS UNRIVALLED. This tale takes place in the Mediterranean on the eve of Waterloo. Bolitho and and his ship take on Barbary pirates and slavers; he also avenges his uncle's death. David Rintoul's strong voice gives a a splendid performance. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd; Large Print edition edition (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708992587
• ISBN-13: 978-0708992586
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,055,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Adam Bolitho comes to the fore, August 25, 2010

By 

Naor Wallach (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Second to None (The Bolitho Novels) (Volume 24) (Paperback)

The first part of this book is a dirge where everyone who is still left alive mourns the death of Richard Bolitho who was killed in action at the end of the previous book. And if the parallels between Bolitho and Nelson were not strong enough, we read the struggles of his mistress - and coincidentally of Nelson's mistress - to come to terms with her loss and what she should do next in her life.

After the first 100 or so pages, we get to the base of this volume - and it is rather thin from a plotting point of view. Adam Bolitho is now the star of the show and he is captaining frigate in the Mediterranean. The coast of Algeria is hazardous to shipping and Algerine pirates have a base of operations with the Dey of Algiers. Bolitho manages to destroy several nests of pirates using tricks that have been described in multiple volumes of this series as well as the Hornblower series and others. Then, of course, there is a command shift and a new admiral comes on board who does not like Bolitho for historical reasons (the uncle, not Adam) and so we have the semi-normal situation of a blow-hard, know-nothing, but well connected admiral with the admirably feisty and always correct frigate caption bailing him out - only to have more resentment reserved for Bolitho.

I rate this book only three stars because there is really nothing here. Adam Bolitho's adventures in the Med area repeat of Dick Bolitho's adventures. The naval engagements are told excitingly enough, but they are less believable than normal. The petty jealousies and revenge plays that keep intruding would be understandable in a small set of cases, but to have such happen in almost every book? Really? How could so many admirals be in command to hold back the worthy captains? Weren't all these admirals captains at one point and therefore know what their underlings are feeling? Also, we have the usual love affair where a woman spends one minute looking at Adam Bolitho and then throws herself at him disclaiming undying love - all the while being married to someone else. This has also been a repeated theme of too many books in this series. So, I'm disappointed to a certain extent and hope this was just a transitional book since the series has six or seven more volumes at the time of this writing.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good addition to the series, March 15, 2010

By 

BobLap (Jackson, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Second to None (The Bolitho Novels) (Volume 24) (Paperback)

If you like the Bolitho series this is a good addition.

This is the first addition to the series after the death of Sir Richard and the series starts to focus on Adam Bolitho and his exploits. I guess an admiral's experiences aren't the stuff of swashbuckling fiction.

It's a decent read.