The Fortune of War

Loved this book because Stephen Maturin moves from the background to the foreground. His bold actions are seen by the reader first hand rather than washed out by Stephen telling Aubrey about his feats. I also loved the glimpse of New England of 1813. My ignorance of the war of 1812 knows no bounds, given it was limited to Johnny Horton’s song about the Battle of New Orleans which I now learned took place after the war was over. I also found the interaction with slaves in Boston in 1813 to be a shock to my system. It’s that ignorance again… Having the excitement being land-based vs naval was exciting. It brought back memories of Horatio Hornblower and his key pals being brought overland for trial… All in all an exciting with dollop of history to boot!

Every Patrick O’Brien novel – especially all of the Aubrey Maturin series – should be required reading for anyone who loves a great story with compelling characters, adventure, suspense and just the slightest touch of romance. Add to that that they are steeped in actual history – based on the logbooks of the RN captains who sailed in the era about which he writes – these are history lessons in the most entertaining form imaginable. Highest recommendation i could possibly give.

This is book 6 of the Aubrey/Maturin series. This one tells the story of the British and American navies and how they interacted in the time of Bonaparte. While all of the series tells navy stories — action against other ships, the names of the parts of the ships, the day to day live of the sailors and the grammar and accepted behavior of the crew — this one is special because of its American naval history.

I liked it very much. It is a fine story well told by a master historian.

The best nautical historical fiction ever written, period. O’Brian researched exhaustively and infused a lifetime of passion, expertise, and emotion into every volume. The books are not only infinitely readable, they’re page burners, each and every one, with laudable character development and environmental description that put you firmly in the midst of what you’re reading, There is such a wealth of description, you’ll want a dictionary, thesaurus, and an atlas at hand when you dive in. Trust me when I tell you, buy them all, because you won’t be able to put them down, and when you’re done with one, you’ll simply have to have the next.

_The Fortune of War_, O’Brian’s 6th book in the series, has the Royal Navy in active service against the United States Navy in the War of 1812. Never one to disappoint, O’Brian has the USS Constitution square off against British ships-of-the-line, with Aubrey and Maturin as by-standers and passengers. In the course of the battle, both are captured and taken to Boston, such are the fortunes of war. While waiting to be exchanged, Maturin’s past catches up with him, in Mme. Villiers, Mrs. Wogan, Herepath (from _Desolation Island_) and French intelligence officer Dubreuil (who tortured and maimed Maturin in _HMS Suprise_). In fact, much of the novel revolves around Maturin’s past and the dangerous position he finds himself in as a prisoner with so many threats about.

I am finding, as I read through O’Brian’s work, that there is always at least one instance or event that particularly stands out in his storytelling. In _The Fortune of War_ it is his fluency with early 19th American politics, the unpopularity of the war with the Federalists in Massachusetts, the social (and political) differences between Democratic-Republicans and Federalists and the econcomic (and political) differences between New England and the Piedmont. O’Brian writes, “Well, sir, for my part I came from Boston, and I am a Federalist; that is to say I look upon the Union as the soveriegn power. I may not like Mr. Madison, nor Mr. Madison’s war – indeed, I deplore it; I deplore this connection with the French, with their Emperor Napoleon to say nothing of the alienation of our English friends – but I see him as the President of the whole nation, and I concede his right to declare it. … Most of the other officers, however, are Republicans, and they cry up the soveriegn rights of the individual states. Nearly all of them come from the South.” For an Englishman to have so firm and nuanced an understanding of the minutae of American politics at this time and to express them so honestly and clearly amazed me. Given O’Brian’s attention to detail in matters nautical, perhaps I should not have been suprized, but I was nonetheless.

The political intrigue that is the primary plot of the story is bookended with brief (but vivid and typically bloody) battles on the high seas written only as O’Brian can. I have mentioned this in several other reviews on this series (and doubtless I will continue to do so) that everything fans claim about this series is true – it is fantastic and almost compulsive reading once you get started. Highly recommended.

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