Another Masterpeice | The Letter of Marque

Best Read in a while | The Letter of Marque | Patrick O'Brian

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	• The Letter of Marque Patrick O'Brian W. W. Norton & Company, 1992 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 25 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An superb and elegant fairy tale, a valentine to the reader

A fairy tale, an elegant and fantastic posey offered to the reader after the tribulations and upheavals of "The Reverse of the Medal," a grand apotheosis, this installment in the Aubrey/Maturin series is my very favorite. It should not be read out of context, or its impact will be foreshortened. The most masterly book to date.

Another Masterpeice

"Letter of Marque" is 12th in the 20 novel Aubrey-Maturin series, featuring Captain Jack Aubrey and his companion ship surgeon Stephen Maturin, set in the early 1800s. "Letter of Marque" one a episode in a grand epic, and as such the plot is of secondary importance.

SUMMARY
Jack Aubrey has been dismissed from the Royal Navy and is in low spirits. However, Stephen Maturin, now rich by inheritance, purchases the frigate "Surprise" and a "letter of Marque", i.e., an authorization to operate as a privateer. However, Stephen is still in the intelligence service, and the resulting missions are a mixture of intelligence collecting and profit making. The privateering goes well making Jack wealthy and popular. Later Stephen journeys to Sweden and is reconciled with his wife, Diana. In the meantime, partly as a result of the death of Jack's father, Jack acquires a seat in Parliament, and sufficient influence to be given assurance that he will soon be reinstated in the Royal Navy.

COMMENTS
"Letter of Marque" is a typical installment in the saga, filled with fascinating characters, battles, sea lore, and insights into early. There is virtually no mystery or suspense, but rather high adventure. Many men will wish that Stephen simply divorce and forget Diane, but of course, that's easier said than done.

THE VERDICT
I have lost track of how many times I have read the entire series start to finish-- somewhere between six and ten times, and I look forward to re-reading the series again and again. This is one of the grand classics to purchase in hardcover, and to bequeath to your grandchildren.

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Best Read in a while

Continuity & action from page one & I would recomend this book to the movie fraturnity as it's better than Master & Commander in my view.

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You will love these books

All of the books in the series are wonderful. If you like history, these books are fascinating and Patrick O'Brian did incredible research. The battles are accurate. The model for Jack Aubrey is Admiral Thomas Cochrane, a larger than life British naval hero who managed to terrify Napoleon and led great sea battles that contributed to Chile, Peru and Brazil's independence. I have read all 21 books and I heartily recommend them.

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Sailng for Profit (and King and Country)

Patrick O'Brian has truly mastered the art of the sea story from the Age of Sail, and at the same time he has given us two superb characters (and a host of minor characters who nevertheles ring profoundly true). His two protagonists, naval officer Jack Aubrey and surgeon/naturalist/spy Dr. Stephen Maturin, form a friendship that endures over years even though they are opposites in many ways. As they age, they mellow a little as well as advancing steadily in their respective professions.

But in this story Capt. Jack has received a serious setback. He has been convicted (unjustly) of rigging a financial market and removed from the Navy List, yet Dr. Maturin buys his favorite ship, the frigate SURPRISE, which also has been rejected from the service, because she's too old and small. With semi-official help from the intelligence service run by Maturin's fellow naturalist Sir Joseph Blaine, Aubrey and Maturin set off on a mission that is also a privateering voyage in search of profitable prizes. Many of their old shipmates elect to come with them, although some of them had to desert to do so, risking hanging if caught, because they know "Lucky Jack Aubrey" will make them rich if they live to see England again.

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Captain Jack Aubrey, a brilliant and experienced officer, has been struck off the list of post captains for a crime he did not commit. Old friend Stephen Maturin, of British intelligence, gets Aubrey to help him in a desperate mission against the French which, if successful, may redeem Aubrey from the private hell of his disgrace. "A splendid saga."--Los Angeles Times Book Review.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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