For My Country's Freedom (The Bolitho Novels) (Paperback)

by Alexander Kent (Author)
Key Phrases: mainmast truck, quarterdeck rail, signals midshipman, Sir Richard, Lady Catherine, James Tyacke (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
". . . for all who would like to escape to the 18th century-follow Bolitho . . ." -- Library Journal

Product Description
March 1811: War with Britain's former American colony looms on the horizon. Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho must once again face his enemies, as he leads a squadron against the powerful new ships of the United States navy. Supported by his loyal men, Bolitho must use all his ingenuity to defeat one of America's great naval commanders, Nathan Beer. But will Bolitho be too late to rescue his terribly wounded nephew Adam, being held as a Prisoner of War?

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: McBooks Press; Richard Bolitho Novels, No.21 edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0935526846
• ISBN-13: 978-0935526844
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #55,195 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Lost at sea, March 31, 2009

By	Naor Wallach (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Richard Bolitho novels have always featured stirring naval battle scenes, with wooden heroes, terrible romatic relationships, and unbelievable activity. Now comes this, the 21st in the series and it is apparent that Alexander Kent has mostly lost his way.

First of all, Richard Bolitho starts out this book as a Vice Admiral and gets promoted to a full Admiral. Every naval service I have ever heard of makes a big deal out of such an important promotion with ceremonies, pomp and circumstance, and lots of flashes of martial ardor. In this book, Bolitho is promoted and merely goes on his way - the one part of this book where I burst out laughing is when his lover finds out and he stammers that he forgot to mention it - yeah. Right!

The vast majority of this book (as has been the case in the last several) is Kent's attempt to become a more competent writer in telling about people's emotional and romantic sides. In this book he does a better than average job of detailing the romance between Bolitho and Lady Catherine, and he also takes good care of the love between Allday and Unis. His descriptions of how they each deal with the separations enforced on them is realistic. However, he has obviously not thought through the relationship between Adam Bolitho and Zenoria and his manner of resolving this time bomb is way to pat.

Kent is also showing a better grasp of what makes Richard Bolitho such a leader. Compare this book to the early ones where we were told of the hero-worship engendered, but given no reason for it. In this book we see him caring for his people - some as lowly as the 12 year old boy who was literally cast aside by his family.

On the not so good side, there are many inconsistencies and problems with the plotting. The Adam/Zenoria issue aside, why is it that Bolitho recognizes that there will be war with the United States, manages to cripple two of their super-frigates, and immediately returns to Britain? How come that is possible when we were earlier told that the Admiral who served with Nelson at Trafalgar spent 10 straight years in the mediterranean without setting foot ashore? It seems that when it is convenient, Bolitho returns to England to carry on his love affair. Or, is that his orders were simply to destroy Nathan Beer?

For those who like the naval action in this book, you may not wish to buy it. No one seems to even look at the sea until the book is half through, and even then we only read a quick sketch of Adam's battle, and a slightly longer sketch of the ultimate battle between Bolitho and Beer. And while there are descriptions of the dead, one reasonably important character appears in the book again, is killed, but we have no idea why. An important characater in most of the series who never makes an appearance is Herrick. As a matter of fact, we learn nothing of what has transpired with him at all.

So, overall a mixed bag. I wonder what volume 22 brings?

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Overly Sentimental, May 7, 2007

By	Reno Peters (California) - See all my reviews

I'm a big fan of the Bolitho series but the later novels seem to be much more about sentimental relationships rather than naval action. In this one, Bolitho doesn't even go to sea until page 151. There's still good stuff here, but it's getting harder to wade through all the tear jerking.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Romance Novel for Men, December 20, 2002

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

No kidding, this is a romance novel for mature husbands and wives to enjoy. It focuses on the trials of aging love when politics and war eventually force the lovers-Lady Somervell and Admiral Bolitho-apart (but also Adam, Keene, and Allday-familiar series characters-from their loves, too). Why, the story is a real tearjerker in the most honorable sense, and has uncommon psychological depth. What it doesn't have is much naval action-Bolitho doesn't even put to sea until half way through. He then experiences the wrenching responsibility of conscientious command, a theme of this series and especially in these later books. The title of this story has special meaning of a "just war" to Bolitho, but also to Kent's many American readers, for this is a story from late in the Napoleonic world war when a young America took up arms against the ruler of the seas. It is a story particularly instructive for Americans because it exposes the internal rifts and conflicts of conscience within the ranks of the faceless British in the War of 1812.

A hallmark of Kent's style is the smooth transition between the thoughts of one character and another, a style of presenting multiple viewpoints not even attempted by most authors. While Kent is "second-rate," I don't agree with another reviewer that Parkinson is one of the best: his prose is wooden and his sailors seem to end up doing a lot of land soldiering.