Hornblower and the "Hotspur" (Hornblower Series) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "REPEAT AFTER ME," said the person..." (more)
Key Phrases: fore topmast head, passing honours, broad pendant, Channel Fleet, Inshore Squadron, Petit Minou (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

MacNee (The Avengers and A View to a Kill) is a superb choice to read this ripping yarn—the third in Forester's expert and exciting series about a young naval officer who rises rapidly through the ranks to become one of England's heroes in the battles against Napoleon's huge fleet of fast and formidably armed frigates. MacNee is perfect as the young Horatio Hornblower, who listeners meet on his wedding day in 1803. The couple's romance succumbs to history as the dastardly French prepare to attack. With the possible exception of Patrick O'Brian, nobody else writes about sea battles with the perfect control of Forester, and MacNee uses all his acting skills to keep the action moving. A few sound effects might have been in order during the fighting scenes, but one can't have everything. A Back Bay paperback. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From Library Journal

This trio offer more of the salty adventures of the title character, who sailed the ocean blue during the Napoleonic Wars.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books (November 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316290467
• ISBN-13: 978-0316290463
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #26,415 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 3 in The Horatio Hornblower Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the very best Hornblower novels. Outstanding!, January 3, 2004

By	Roger J. Buffington (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is the third Hornblower novel by way of continuity, following "Mr. Midshipman Hornblower" and "Lieutenent Hornblower" and it is one of the very best Hornblower novels. Horatio Hornblower has been promoted to Commander, and is now captain (not a Post-Captain) of HMS Sloop Hotspur, which is given the important duty of monitoring the French port of Brest. Captain Hornblower and First Lieutenant Bush are now fully developed as characters, and their long association together takes form in this novel. Here, Hornblower is now gaining a reputation as an unusually competent and resourceful officer, as the storied Admiral Cornwallis takes Hornblower under his wing as mentor. Nonetheless, this is a time of great stress and danger for Hornblower. The British Navy is exerting every ounce of Britain's strength against Napoleon, and the British fleet is all that stands between the Corsican tyrant and world domination. Hotspur, commanded by Hornblower, is responsible for monitoring Brest, which is where Napoleon's next move against Britain is expected to first come from. Hornblower is truly "the tip of the spear." This is a great story.

"Hotspur" is one of the key Hornblower novels and I highly recommend it to Hornblower afficianados and anyone who just likes a good novel of the days of "wooden ships and iron men." By the way, it makes for a nice sequence of reading if you follow "Hotspur" with "Hornblower During the Crisis." You'll see why when you read the latter.

The Hornblower novels are in my opinion the best naval adventure series in all of literature and "Hotspur" is one of the very best of the series. What more can one say?

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Reading, February 25, 1999

By	John G. Bergin (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

I read the Hornblower books when I was in my early teens, read them all and than forgot them. Years later, a friend started me on the Patrick O'Brian books. Once again I got caught up in the Royal Navy and the wars with France. When I finished the last volume in November, I thought I would try the Forester books again and what a nice suprise! They were better this time. A lot of the major players (pardon the pun)are of course the same. There seems to be more action in the Hornblower books and I guess because of that the characters do not appear to be as well developed. The details that are such a big part of the Aubrey/Maturin books are not there in the Hornblower books. But after sailing with O'Brian for the last five or six years, I think I know a lot about shipboard life and because of that, it took very little imagination to fill in the parts missing in the Forester books. In all, I really enjoyed Hornblower and look forward to reading more.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 thwarted invasions by the Master of sea action, January 25, 2000

By	Bill Mac "hmcs_kenogami" (windsor, ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

Although Hornblower and the Hotspur is the third installment chronologically in the Hornblower series, it was one of the last written. Paradoxically, perhaps it might have the least harmony with modern readers. Hornblower stands for values that many people have rejected or would at least find quaint. Hornblower and the Hotspur is a first rate naval action story that worked on many levels when it was written. Unfortunately, some of these levels no longer strike a chord with modern readers.

Hornblower and the Hotspur begins with Hornblower's wedding. It is obvious from the beginning that Hornblower did not want to get married. The fearless Hornblower is too soft hearted to break a woman's heart. He realizes that he could have taken advantage of her and left her broken hearted but has married her and made her deliriously happy instead. Unfortunately, most modern readers would not find this chivalry believable. Much has changed since Forester first published this novel nearly 40 years ago. Modern heroes are expected to sleep with the women and then sail away ignoring heartbreak and possible progeny. Many modern readers would see Hornblower as a sap.

For the majority of Hornblower and the Hotspur, Hornblower is at sea. It is 1803 and the brief peace is ending. France and England are set to engage in yet another war. France is amassing a huge army to invade England. The parallels to World War II would have been obvious to the readers of 1962. England has a small army and would be unable to stay free if the huge army from the continent were ever able to cross the English Channel.

Another parallel is in the mention of the soldiers who were drafted to serve a tyrant. Hornblower regrets having to kill Frenchmen in the way that modern Britons would have regretted the necessity of killing Germans in WWII.

A subtext is Hornblower's coming to terms with his family life. Many of the original readers would have been WWII veterans who perhaps married in haste and made the best of raising their "baby-boom" families.

In spite of all this, Hornblower and the Hotspur is about sea chases, broadsides, furious storms and night actions. Forester tells a marvelous sea tale that stands the test of time. It's sad that some its original values have been lost and that some of the parallels are no longer relevant. Hornblower and the Hotspur is too good a story to fade with time.