Author:C.S. Forester
The final Horatio Hornblower story tells of Napoleon's plans to invade England...
Set in 1805, Hornblower and the Crisis finds Horatio Hornblower in possession of confidential dispatches from Bonaparte after a vicious hand-to-hand encounter with a French brig. The admiralty rewards Hornblower by sending him on a dangerous espionage mission that will light the powder trail leading to the battle of Trafalgar ...
Hornblower and the Crisis was unfinished at the time of Forester's death, but the author left notes - included here - telling us how the tale would end. Also included are two further stories - Hornblower and the Widow McCool and The Last Encounter - that tell of Hornblower as a very young and very old man, respectively.
This is the final book chronicling the adventures of C. S. Forester's inimitable nautical hero, Horatio Hornblower.
A thriller writer in a class of his own
—— Financial TimesHiggins is a master of his craft
—— Daily TelegraphA compulsively readable storyteller
—— Sunday Express100 per cent proof adventure
—— New York TimesHiggins makes the pages fly
—— New York Daily NewsThe master craftsman of good, clean adventure
—— Daily MailA seasoned pro . . . Mr Higgins knows how to tell a story!
—— The New York Times Book ReviewThe architect of the modern thriller
—— The Huffington PostUnsurpassed by any adventure story in recent years
—— Alistair MacLean, author of The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles DareWell deserved to win the 2007 Costa book of the year award...sophisticated texture...Ms Kennedy manages to make every battle truism fresh
—— EconomistIt is quite outstanding, full of beauty, pain and truth... We are lucky to have this book
—— Anne Chisholm , Sunday TelegraphThe facts surrounding the discovery of this book are as remarkable as its contents are magnificent... A triumph of indomitability and a masterwork of literary accomplishment
—— Sunday TimesDeftly translated by Sandra Smith, this is possibly the most devastating indictment of French manners and morals since Madame Bovary, as hypnotic as Proust at the biscuit tin, as gruelling as Genet on the prowl. Irène Nemirovsky is, on this evidence, a novelist of the very first order, perceptive to a fault and sly in her emotional restraint
—— Evening StandardAn heroic attempt to write a novel about a nightmare in which the author is entirely embedded
—— Anita Brookner , SpectatorRead this haunting novel, then read [Nemirovsky’s] letters in this edition to feel the full force of the work
—— Fiona Wilson , The TimesWhile marked by poppy wearing and memorial ceremonies, the First World War is also sustained through family history, handed down from one generation to the next. No book better articulates the impact of this narrative than Stephen Faulks’ Birdsong.
—— Lucy Middleton , Reader's DigestA truly amazing read
—— Gail Teasdale , 24housingI’d never read such descriptive literature, and couldn’t sleep at night for thinking about what I’d just read. His [Faulks] portrayal of terror on the battlefield is so powerful
—— Anna Redman , Good HousekeepingMy all-time favourite book
—— Kate Garraway , Good Housekeeping