Dewey Lambdin (1945–2021)

After flirting with being in command of a ship at times in the past, Alan Lewrie finally gets his own ship, the HMS Jester, a prize he'd won in the last book. The war is heating up and Lewrie sails into the battle of the Glorious First of June, then on to the Mediterranean, where under Hood and along with Nelson, he's at the taking of Corsica. But then Admiral Hood is replaced by Hotham, and Lewrie chafes under his over-cautious leadership. But old acquaintances and enemies from the past show more appear to, naturally, cause trouble for Lewrie. And he is asked by British agents to give his all--including an assignation with a particularly well-endowed and alluring female spying for the French.

I continue to thoroughly enjoy this series. I love Lewrie, with his insecurities, flaws, and his nautical abilities. Yes, O'Brian's series is brilliant, but I never mind comparisons and enjoy these books on their own merits. show less

Alan Lewrie, Lambdin's reprobate midshipman brat and amoral waistrel, becomes a more than competent seaman in this second of the series. Lambdin ranks right up with Forester and O'Brian as one of the best writers of nautical fiction taking place during the late eighteenth century. Lambdin, an American, writes from the perspective of the British as they find themselves on the losing end of battles with American terrorists and rebels. It struck me again, while reading this, how wars are show more defined by the victors, for surely what we proudly name the "Revolutionary War" was by all accounts nothing more than the first American civil war. And a bloody war it was, with terrible atrocities committed by both sides. Lambdin doesn't gloss over these dark aspects, and this volume has much less of the high humor contained in [b:The King's Coat|181195|The King's Coat (Alan Lewrie, #1)|Dewey Lambdin|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172502395s/181195.jpg|175082], the introductory novel to the series. Alan and the crew of the Desperate find themselves assisting British (actually everyone was British, so they really might better be called Loyalists) forces at Yorktown. Their forces are ill-equipped to deal with the guerrilla tactics of the rebels, and a sense of hopelessness pervades the Redcoat army. The cause seems futile and the French Admiral DeGrasse's fleet, in a Kafkaesque element, hovers threateningly in the background, a huge threat, but never actually makes an appearance.

The fall of Yorktown reminds one eerily of Bataan and Singapore. Very few escaped. Alan and some North Carolina volunteers that he was transporting across the bay away from Yorktown in an attempt to escape , are blown off course during a storm and forced to fight their way out, even though Cornwallis has surrendered the main army. Alan and two officers, the Chiswick brothers, become good friends and after fighting their way out of a plantation where they had taken refuge, Alan makes it back to the Desperate. He takes a message to the family of the Chiswicks, finding them in penury, all their possessions having been confiscated by rebels. The daughter, Caroline, is, of course, quite attractive, if a bit thin, not to mention lithe. Alan helps them find passage out of Wilmington on the Desperate, his overactive libido in full force, but soon the captain is wooing Caroline, and that leads to a funny dialogue between Alan and Mr. Monk, the ship's master: When asked if it was rather unusual for captains to have women on board, Monk laughs and tells of one captain, Augustus Harvey, who, when a young post captain, "must have made sport with over two hundred women in one commission, duchesses, servant girls, and two nuns to top it off."

The French admiral De Grasse, always in the background as a menacing figure, never actually appears, and Lambdin has harsh words for the failure of the British admirals to attack him head on. They defeated De Grasse easily later; had they done so earlier, the war might have ended differently. In his historical notes, Lambdin notes that the atrocities described in the book are well documented, and fear of rebel terrorist acts forced many Loyalist's families to flee to Canada. show less

This is the most land locked naval adventure I have ever read. The characters spend more time in carriages than on board ship. The main character is more Flashman than Hornblower and, in fact, the whole novel is very like the Flashman novels: roguish hero, breezy prose style, famous historical & fictional characters turning up. Alan Lewrie is on half pay because of a (temporary) peace with the French and he and his wife decide on a trip to Paris in the hiatus. They get to meet Napoleon and show more because of a misunderstanding (and some old enemies) the Lewrie’s are on the run for their lives. My main annoyance with the novel was the fact that Lewrie seemed to keep running into old lovers and enemies (sometimes the same people) every time he turned a corner. But it is still a quite enjoyable brown earth/blue water adventure. show less

The thing I really like about reading historical fiction is the sense of superiority it gives me over those who read other genres of fiction, particularly the fantastic. At the end I may have wasted as much time as they did, but you can't help but learn something useful...like the difference between a topgallant and a staysail...very useful here in this landlocked state.