Customer Reviews

Tradition Of Victory

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. In the months before the Peace of Amiens provides a short breathing space, Richard Bolitho takes command of a blockading squadron off the Loire Estuary and, as always, is soon in the thick of action, launching attacks on French harbours and shipping. Napoleonic information technology, in the form of land-based semaphore signalling, provides a significant complication and Bolitho not only loses a ship, and a friend, but falls prisoner to the enemy. At this point one feared a repeat of the plot of Forrester's classic "Flying Colours" but Kent knows better and provides a satisfyingly different twist. The story is full of the usual action and accurate period detail. As with all the Bolitho books, much pleasure is also provided by the steady development of the other familiar characters such as Herrick, Allday, Pascoe and Inch. Now in his mid-forties, Bolitho has aged convincingly through the series and the relationships between himself and his long-time friends are depicted with considerable realism and charm. Another thoroughly enjoyable read for aficionados.

Rear Admiral Richard Bolitho's squadron has not yet recovered from the damage sustained at Copenhagen, but his most respected superior orders them back to sea nevertheless. It's 1801, and the war with France continues. Bolitho has no chance to bid farewell to Belinda Laidlaw, the beautiful widow who has become his fiancee. Will she be able to deal with this introduction to her future as a naval officer's wife? The lonely widower, who still grieves for his dead Cheney, hates the thought of losing her. Yet he cannot refuse to do his duty - so he sets sail. Putting him at odds with his dearest friend, Captain (now Acting Commodore) Thomas Herrick; and placing him in an awkward situation as an aging frigate he once commanded joins his squadron, with a captain who recently faced court martial and a first lieutenant who is none other than Bolitho's beloved nephew.

Like every other Alexander Kent book I have read, this one works well both as historical fiction and as the story of one flawed but sympathetic man and the people who follow him. Occasionally the pace does lag a bit, but in spite of that it makes an enjoyable and exciting read. I think it's time for me to locate and re-read the earlier volumes in this series. I had forgotten how much pure fun a Bolitho book can be!

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author "Love, Jimmy: A Maine Veteran's Longest Battle"

I had not heard of Alexander Kent until I complained at a book store that they had no copies of Patrick O'Brian's books. The owner said, "Have you read any of Alexander Kent?" I had not, and that began a wonderful new adventure. Kent writes naval stories about the same historical time period as O'Brian, but Kent often has more action scenes, which I thoroughly enjoy. If you like O'Brian, you will love Kent.
Prentice Kinser III, D.Min., Author of:Limitless Living, A Guide to Unconventional Spiritual Exploration and Growth

I just love these books. I'm half way through the series and enjoy each and every book.

Peace talks between France and England are reputedly underway. As with any negotiation, each side wants to have a stronger hand to get the most out of the final agreement. In this case, in 1801, Napoleon's France is building a massive invasion fleet intending that to be its ace in the hole during the negotiations. On the British side, there is a debate on what to do? With everyone tired of the war that has stretched for eight long years, maybe it is time to agree to peace terms, and if Napoleon gets a bit more, so what. On the other hand, there are people who believe that Great Britain needs to be able to get out of the war with their heads held high to justify the enormous sacrifices that were made.

On the latter side of that debate is Admiral Beauchamp but time is running short. So, he naturally commands Rear Admiral Richard Bolitho and his squadron to go to the shore of France and destroy as much of the invasion fleet as he can. Even though Bolitho has only just come back from the battle of Copenhagen, and his heart is more concerned with the beautiful Belinda than the navy, the tradition of service insists and off he goes to patrol the Bay of Biscay.

As usual with Bolitho stories, the Rear Admiral is not content to sit in his ship's great cabin plotting out strategy and watching his youngers execute it. Instead, Bolitho moves to a frigate which engages in one shore raid; is wrecked and washes ashore in France; is captured as a prisoner of war; gets shipped by the French to a different prison and is released by a different frigate from his squadron; and ultimately decides to fight a battle in one ship against five French ships of the line. Of course he also manages to destroy the invasion fleet thereby fulfilling his country's needs; gets the support of his complete command even though he does not know most of them; has Herrick support him in all kinds of crazy situations; and wins the heart and soul of Belinda.

In other words, a normal Bolitho story. This one was better than some of the more recent ones because the author focused again on the military tactics and naval engagements and let go of the romantic storyline that took up so much of the previous novel. There are too many coincidences as usual and the normal cast of characters is always there. Yes, Herrick, Allday, Pasco, Inch, Keane and more are present as is a ship from the past: the Phalarope returns to service and is attached to Bolitho's squadron. Adam Pascoe is assigned to it and many memories are rekindled during the book.

The story is competently told and the believability of the scenario is there. There is no need to hide Bolitho in the shadows of the bigger events or in support of Lord Nelson as the story is of a small and unimportant series of events in historical terms, yet clearly important to the people involved. If you are a Bolitho fan, you will enjoy this book!

Book #14 in this extensive series is no less filled with the excitement and drama of ficticious naval history. Alexander Kent pulls no punches when it comes to the not-so-romantic life at sea of the 1700-1800's.

A must read for Bolitho fans. And the genius of Kent allows a reader to pick up any of the Bolitho series and read it as an individual book of interest. But be sure to read the entire series starting with book one.

Wonderful sea adventure. The entire series is very entertaining. It is so realistic that I felt I was back in the days of sailing ships. I have now read 22 of the 26 books in the series and each is delightful. The romantic scenes are very tenderly done and the pictures of life on the old sailing war vessels is great. It compares favorably with Patrick O'Brian's books.

There are already several good synopses so I'll skip that. I like Alexander Kent's historical nauticals. A Tradition of Victory (The Bolitho series) is no exception. If you've made it this far in the series you already that. If you are about to purchase this one but wondering if Kent is still managing to spin a good yarn you won't be disappointed. I love nautical fiction and Kent's writing has matured noticably with each book in the series. The only annoying aspect of his series is the necessity to recap all that's come before in little snippets here and there to educate the reader who starts reading the series in the middle somewhere or to remind the reader who's paused for a while. Patrick O'Brian did the same thing. I usuallly skip over those parts. I can assure you that's the only annoying aspect of this or any of the books in the series. Kent captures the essence of the time, life in the navy, the burden of command, friendship, love, attitudes and every other aspect of turn of 19th century England. The great thing about any book is that it takes you somewhere. If it does it well you feel satisfied and entertained. Kent succeeds in taking you somewhere you've never been and making you feel at home. I'd recommend this and every other book in the series even if you're not particularly interested in nautical fiction because first and foremost it's a great story about people.

Kent has promoted Richard Bolitho an admiral earlier in the full series than do most other authors of nautical fiction, and with 14 long years to go before Bonaparte's defeat. Frigate captains have all the "fun," while admirals are involved in remote command decisions for masses of big slow ships. So how does Kent keep Bolitho busy and his readers excited? Will we see more of his nephew, Pascoe, already a first lieutenant? As a new rear-admiral in Book 13, Bolitho precipitously jumped aboard a frigate for a pursuit. Here Kent makes it so that nothing of Bolitho's squadron, after its pummeling in the Baltic, is initially available for the Biscay blockade BUT frigates! (And after the usual complaining about the perennial scarcity of frigates.) Once on station everyone is upset about the reappearance of the ancient Phalarope, Bolitho's first command long ago, and now with his nephew aboard as well. I was never clear just why its presence is so ghastly; nothing bad seems to happen. The fact her captain is a suspected coward is a separate theme made much of at first—Bolitho and his loyal Acting-Commodore Herrick almost fall out over dealing with him—but then peters out in late scenes.

The story features two battles, the failed first setting up the sacrificial second, separated by soulful anxiety over the unreliable captain and the beloveds of several captains. Bolitho's squadron is racing to complete a secretive mission on which the Admiralty in general seems to frown, adding to the general malaise. One point of interest is to compare Bolitho's admiral's perspective on coastal and shore battles with the similar attack enthusiastically made by a junior Horatio Hornblower. Since we don't actually get to hear the Admiralty's final orders, it's unclear whether Bolitho actually ignores them? Another aspect of the novel is the parallelism established between Bolitho and his opposite number, a wiley French admiral. The French want to move an invasion fleet into the Channel and Bolitho wants to prevent that. Each has a parallel problem to solve, namely the presence of the other with an equal squadron.

Maybe I've been reading this series too rapidly, for I didn't enjoy this voyage as much as most. As Bolitho has aged, approaching 50, he seems to be more concerned with positive personal and family relations. Bolitho is now regularly torn between duty and desire, his mind often wandering to insecure thoughts of his Belinda and home. I found the good times comradery and pining for loved ones among old series friends repetitive and rather tiresome (if not also unrealistic, and as if they have their own private and ongoing war). He, or the people around him, have become more explicit about his hero status equivalent to Lord Nelson's, and Kent makes more of Bolitho hero worship as a plot element. Destroying 300 boats with just a few broadsides, as Kent alludes in one battle, is quite fantastical, or an editorial error. Although much is made of the significance of the secret French semaphore system, and the importance of breaking it, actually so doing has no tactical effect on attacking French boats or encountering the French squadron. As usual, there's no map.

Another superb volume in the series that outshines all others in the nautical fiction genre. What makes this one special is that the reader is brought deeper into the inner selves of Bolitho, Herrick, Allday, Browne, and Pascoe. The result is the type of character development that the Aubrey/Maturin series has been primarily known for. Kent/Reeman is possibly nonpareil in taking his characters and making the reader feel that they are known as old friends and comrades would be. There are the usual great action scenes and crisp descriptions of shipboard life. It will truly be a sad day for me when I read of Bolitho's demise.