The Only Victor (The Bolitho Novels) (Vol 18) (Paperback)

by Alexander Kent (Author)
Key Phrases: masthead pendant, quarterdeck rail, tiller bar, Sir Richard, Black Prince, Cape Town (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Kent's descriptions of ships under sail . . .crackle with realism." -- Library Journal

"One of our foremost writers of Naval Fiction." -- Sunday Times

Product Description
February 1806: Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho carries the news of Trafalgar to southern Africa, where he is to aid the ground forces in any way he can to retake Cape Town from the Dutch. Impatient to be home, Bolitho decides yet again that the boldest measures are best, and proves to the army that brave men do not die in vain.

But there is little respite. After a defiant, all-too-brief reunion with his mistress, Lady Catherine Somervell, Bolitho undertakes a secret mission to Denmark, which nearly ends in disaster and further damages his sight. When diplomacy fails, he is eager to quit the land and joins the expedition to bombard Copenhagen in a new flagship, Black Prince.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: McBooks Press (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0935526749
• ISBN-13: 978-0935526745
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #176,570 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A preoccupied Bolitho, June 23, 2002

By	tertius3 (MI United States) - See all my reviews

This is by far the longest book in Kent's Bolitho series. Unlike most books earlier in the series Bolitho spends considerable time on shore iintimately nvolved with his illicit love, Catherine, and then when he is at sea again passionately longing for her. The brave stories of a scared little midshipman who eventually finds his courage, or the lieutenant who excels despite having lost half his face are nearly lost behind Bolitho's obsessive anxieties over his separation from the bold Catherine. Bolitho, now half blinded, is showing signs of tiring and retiring. The series has become a study in the accumulated effects of endless time at sea and in fighting sharp and desperate actions. Bolitho, always deeply concerned with his men, has progressively lost the closest colleagues on whom he had depended, "we happy few," an' that's no error. Still there are flashes of the old outer heroics while fighting the Dutch for Cape Town, on a secret mission to Copenhagen, and coming to the rescue of his troubled friend Herrick at sea.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A good series gone bad, January 4, 2001

By	Tony Epler (Washington DC, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read the first 16 or 17 Bolitho books in a hurry, 4 or 5 years ago, and enjoyed them quite a bit. Recently I picked up this one and was very disappointed. Rather than a good story of action and history, that I had come to expect from the author, this recent edition was dedicated almost entirely to Bolitho and Catherine mooning about each other and lamenting their separations.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Publishers padding particularly poor, November 12, 2000

By	David Wilson (Arvada, CO USA) - See all my reviews

I have read the Hornblower series twice and the Aubrey/Maturin series three times and I looked forward to reading another Britanic Naval series when I began Kent's Bolitho series. The series began strong but towards the end (somewhere around "Success to the Brave") the series started running out of gas. It appeared to me that the publishers requested Kent to pad the books with inane story lines (or they themselves committed the sin) in order to extend the series (at nearly US$15/book) to increase their profit. I got to the point that when I read the one of many over used phrases, such as "blood ran from the scuppers as if the ship itself was mortally wounded", I put the book down in disgust. Futhermore, I would occasionally read a few pages that reminded me of the better written books that began the series, affirming my belief that a much less talented individual had a hand in the completion of the series. I suggest to anyone looking for another Aubrey/Maturin series to pick up O'Brian's "Master and Commander" and reread that series. However, if you do pick up the Bolitho series stop investing in the books when it becomes obvious to you that the publishers are padding the stories.