With interest in nautical adventure stories reaching unprecedented heights -- as evidenced by the success of The Perfect Storm, Patrick O'Brian's bestselling Aubrey/Maturin novels, the Titanic phenomenon, etc. -- now is the ideal time for readers to rediscover the pleasures and excitement of C. S. Forester's epic saga of turmoil and triumph on the high seas.
The Horatio Hornblower novels, which recount the thrilling adventures of one of the most daring and resourceful officers in the Royal Navy as he wrestles with his own "accursed unhappy temperament" and as he sails valiantly into battle after battle against Napoleon's forces, have riveted and delighted millions of readers since the series was initiated in 1938.
Little, Brown's relaunch of the Hornblower series commenced in June 1998 with the publication of a new low-priced hardcover edition of Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, the first Hornblower novel. Now it continues as the second and third novels in the series are reissued in trade paperback -- and as the A&E cable network premieres its magnificent new four-part television series based on Hornblower's adventures.