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C. S. Forester (1899–1966)

Author of Mr. Midshipman Hornblower

145+ Works 30,091 Members 528 Reviews 116 Favorited

About the Author

Born Cecil Louis Troughton Smith on August 27, 1899, in Cairo, Egypt, where his father was a government official, C. S. Forester grew up mainly in England. He was educated at Dulwich College, studying medicine briefly before decidint to become a writer. Forester moved to the United States before show more the start of World War II, and lived in Berkeley, California, until his death in 1966. Although Forester was a journalist, a novelist and a Hollywood scriptwriter, he is probably best known for his historical fiction, particularly the series of novels that feature Horatio Hornblower. The eleven-book series begins with Mr. Midshipmen Hornblower, in which the seventeen-year old Hornblower joins the British navy in 1793, just as the Napoleonic Wars are about to begin. Hornblower's continuing adventures, as well as his advancement to the highest ranks of the navy, are chronicled in further books, including Beat to Quarters, Flying Colours, Commodore Hornblower, Lord Hornblower, The Happy Return, and A Ship of the Line, for which Forester recived the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1939. Several of Forester's novels were made into films, most notably Payment Deferred (his first novel published in 1926), Eagle Squadron, The Commandos (the movie title was The Commandos Strike at Dawn), Captain Horatio Hornblower, Sink the Bismarck!, and The African Queen, starring Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. Forester's nonfiction includes The Age of Fighting Sail: The Story of the Naval War of 1812, as well as biographies of Lord Nelson, Napoleon, Josephine, and King Louis XIV. He also wrote an autobiography, Long Before Forty. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Series

Works by C. S. Forester

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (1950) — Author — 3,146 copies
Lieutenant Hornblower (1951) 2,307 copies
Hornblower and the Hotspur (1962) 1,993 copies
Hornblower : Beat to Quarters (1937) 1,992 copies
Lord Hornblower (1946) 1,872 copies
The Commodore (1945) — Author — 1,778 copies
A Ship of the Line (1938) — Author — 1,721 copies
Hornblower and the Atropos (1953) 1,707 copies
Hornblower in the West Indies (1958) 1,614 copies
Flying Colours (1938) — Author — 1,586 copies
Hornblower and the Crisis (1967) 1,393 copies
The African Queen (1935) 1,323 copies
The Good Shepherd (2020) 609 copies
The Barbary Pirates (1777) 432 copies
The Ship (1943) 412 copies
The Hornblower Companion (1964) 363 copies
Sink the Bismarck! (1958) — Author — 349 copies
The General (1936) 335 copies
The Captain from Connecticut (1941) 318 copies
Death to the French (1932) 285 copies
The Gun (1933) 268 copies
Payment Deferred (1944) 244 copies
The Sky and the Forest (1948) 199 copies
The Indomitable Hornblower (1958) 185 copies
Brown on Resolution (1929) 148 copies
Plain Murder (1930) 135 copies
To the Indies (1940) 109 copies
The Man in the Yellow Raft (1967) 95 copies
The Nightmare (1954) 80 copies
Hornblower Goes to Sea (1952) 73 copies
The Pursued (1935) 68 copies
Lord Nelson (1948) 51 copies
Poo-Poo and the Dragons (1942) 48 copies
The Peacemaker (1969) 47 copies
The Daughter of the Hawk (1963) 24 copies
Long Before Forty (1966) 24 copies
Hornblower Takes Command (1900) 22 copies
Hornblower in Captivity (1955) 21 copies
The Hostage (1970) 15 copies
Hornblower's Triumph (1955) 10 copies
Flying Colours / A Ship of the Line (1938) — Author — 5 copies
Love Lies Dreaming (2013) 4 copies
Napoleon and His Court (2019) 3 copies
A Pawn Among Kings (2021) 3 copies
Konvoi 1943 1 copy
The Shadow of the Hawk (1928) 1 copy
The Paid Piper (1924) 1 copy
Two-and-Twenty (1931) 1 copy
True War Stories (1961) 1 copy
Rendevous 1 copy
Kommandør Peabody (1981) 1 copy

Associated Works

75 Short Masterpieces: Stories from the World's Literature (1961) — Contributor — 289 copies
The African Queen [1951 film] (1951) — Novel — 286 copies
Men at War: The Best War Stories of All Time (1942) — Contributor; Contributor — 283 copies
The Golden Treasury of Children's Literature Set (1961) — Contributor — 207 copies
Secrets & Spies: Behind the Scenes Stories of World War II (1964) — Contributor — 175 copies
The Pan Book of Horror Stories (1959) — Contributor — 152 copies
The Saturday Evening Post Treasury (1954) — Contributor — 134 copies
Deep Waters: Mysteries on the Waves (2019) — Contributor — 81 copies
Dreadnought: A History of the Modern Battleship (1739) — Introduction, some editions — 81 copies
Great Short Tales of Mystery and Terror (1982) — Contributor — 79 copies
Sink the Bismarck! [1960 film] (1960) — Original novel — 74 copies
Fifty Best Mysteries (1991) — Contributor — 72 copies
Modern English Short Stories: Second Series (1911) — Contributor — 62 copies
65 Great Tales of Horror (1981) — Contributor — 57 copies
Desert Island Decameron (1945) — Contributor — 56 copies
The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor (1949) — Introduction, some editions — 53 copies
The Oxford Book of Sea Stories (1994) — Contributor — 50 copies
Captain Horatio Hornblower [1950 film] (1950) — Original novel — 44 copies
65 Great Murder Mysteries (1983) — Contributor — 41 copies
The Adventures of John Wetherell (1953) — Editor; Introduction — 41 copies
The Lucifer Society (1971) — Contributor; Contributor — 39 copies
The Book of the Sea (1954) — Editor — 36 copies
Some Things Fierce and Fatal (1971) — Contributor — 35 copies
The Vintage Book of Classic Crime (1993) — Contributor — 33 copies
Mysterious Sea Stories (1985) — Contributor — 30 copies
100 Best True Stories of World War II (1945) — Contributor — 29 copies
Stories for the Dead of Night (1957) — Contributor — 28 copies
Murder Short & Sweet (2008) — Contributor — 27 copies
The Saturday Evening Post Reader of Sea Stories (1962) — Contributor — 27 copies
Short Stories of the Sea (1984) — Contributor — 25 copies
The Unspeakable People (1969) — Contributor — 23 copies
The Best Horror Stories (1977) — Contributor — 22 copies
The Pride and the Passion [1957 film] (1957) — Writer — 21 copies
Ellery Queen's Twentieth Century Detective Stories (1964) — Contributor — 20 copies
American Heritage Magazine Vol 15 No 3 1964 April (1964) — Contributor — 20 copies
American Heritage Magazine Vol 09 No 4 1958 June (1958) — Contributor — 19 copies
A Treasury of Sea Stories (1948) — Contributor — 18 copies
Battle: True Stories of Combat in World War II (1965) — Contributor — 18 copies
The Third Book of Unknown Tales of Horror (1979) — Contributor — 17 copies
World's Great Tales of the Sea (1944) — Contributor — 16 copies
American Heritage Magazine Vol 15 No 6 1964 October (1964) — Contributor — 16 copies
The Saturday evening post book of the sea and ships (1978) — Contributor — 16 copies
American Heritage Magazine Vol 15 No 1 1963 December (1963) — Contributor — 15 copies
The Queen's Awards: Sixth Series (1953) — Contributor — 15 copies
The Penguin Book of Sea Stories (1977) — Contributor — 14 copies
American Heritage Magazine Vol 08 No 5 1957 August (1957) — Contributor — 13 copies
The Bedside Lilliput (1950) — Contributor — 11 copies
In the Dead of Night (1961) — Contributor — 11 copies
A Cavalcade of Collier's (1959) — Contributor — 10 copies
The 7th Fontana Book of Great Horror Stories (1972) — Contributor — 10 copies
A Treasury of Doctor Stories (1946) — Contributor — 9 copies
Tall Short Stories (1960) — Contributor — 9 copies
Escape Stories (1980) — Contributor — 9 copies
Murder Without Tears (1946) — Contributor — 9 copies
Fatal Fascination: A Choice of Crime (1964) — Contributor — 8 copies
My Favorite Suspense Stories (1968) — Contributor — 8 copies
Griezelverhalen 2 (1962) — Contributor — 8 copies
Great Stories from the Saturday Evening Post (1947) — Contributor — 7 copies
13 Ways to Kill a Man (1966) — Contributor — 7 copies
Murder for the Millions (1946) — Contributor — 7 copies
Great Stories from the Saturday Evening Post, 1947 (1947) — Contributor — 7 copies
Full Forty Fathoms: Stories of Underwater Adventure (1975) — Contributor — 7 copies
Verhalen omnibus (1967) — Contributor — 7 copies
The Harrap Book of Modern Short Stories (1956) — Contributor — 7 copies
A Seaman's Book of Sea Stories (2009) — Contributor — 7 copies
Dealers Choice: The Worlds Greatest Poker Stories (1955) — Contributor — 6 copies
The Fireside Treasury of Modern Humor (1963) — Contributor — 5 copies
Second Mystery Companion (1944) — Contributor — 5 copies
Thirteen Short Stories (1968) — Contributor — 5 copies
Post Stories of 1941 (1942) — Contributor — 5 copies
The Wide Sea (1962) — Contributor — 4 copies
The Best from Cosmopolitan — Contributor — 4 copies
Huivering wekken : 26 onthutsende verhalen (1982) — Contributor — 4 copies
The Saturday Evening Post Stories 1948 (1948) — Contributor — 4 copies
Tales of Fear & Frightening Phenomena (1982) — Contributor — 4 copies
Argosy, February 26, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 3 copies
The Best Short Short Stories from Collier's (1948) — Contributor — 3 copies
Commandos Strike at Dawn [1942 film] (2003) — Story — 3 copies
The Saturday Evening Post Stories: 1942-1945 (1946) — Contributor — 3 copies
The Saturday Evening Post Stories 1962 — Contributor — 3 copies
The Bathroom Reader (1946) — Contributor — 3 copies
Argosy, March 26, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, Volume 285 Number 1, October 1, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, December 17, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
Evil Tales of Evil Things (1993) — Contributor — 2 copies
In Fear and Dread (1974) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, December 3, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, March 12, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
The Masque of the Red Death and Other Tales of Horror (1964) — Contributor — 2 copies
Horror (1978) — Contributor — 2 copies
Payment Deferred [1932 film] (1932) — Based on the book — 2 copies
Argosy, October 22, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, December 24, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, April 2, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, October 8, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
The Bedside Bonanza (1944) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, March 5, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, December 31, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
150 anni in Giallo (1989) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, December 10, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, September 24, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, October 15, 1938 (1938) — Contributor — 2 copies
Argosy, January 7, 1939 — Contributor — 1 copy
Argosy (UK) [Vol. IV No. 5, June 1943] — Contributor — 1 copy
Sailor of the King [1953 film] (1953) — Original novel — 1 copy
Argosy, September 17, 1938 — Contributor — 1 copy
The Undying Past — Contributor — 1 copy
Argosy, May 14, 1938 — Contributor — 1 copy
Argosy, March 19, 1938 — Contributor — 1 copy
Argosy: December 1964 — Contributor — 1 copy
Did It Happen? (1956) — Contributor — 1 copy
Saturday Evening Post July 16, 1966 No. 15 — Contributor — 1 copy
Argosy, January 18, 1941 — Contributor — 1 copy
Forever England [1935 film] — Original novel — 1 copy
Ellery Queen's 1966 Anthology — Contributor — 1 copy
Horror and Homicide (1949) — Contributor — 1 copy
Synnitön lankeemus [1943 film] — Original story — 1 copy
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine - 1958/08 — Contributor — 1 copy
Eagle Squadron [1942 film] — Story — 1 copy
Assault (1965) — Contributor — 1 copy
Life Magazine 1955.03.14 March 14, 1955 (1955) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

19th century (372) 20th century (168) adventure (757) Africa (151) age of sail (323) anthology (233) British (265) British Navy (185) C.S. Forester (215) England (279) fiction (4,480) historical (616) historical fiction (2,582) historical novel (239) history (448) Hornblower (1,616) literature (294) maritime (253) military (299) military fiction (169) Napoleonic (211) Napoleonic Wars (957) nautical (627) Nautical Fiction (427) naval (721) naval fiction (599) Naval History (161) naval warfare (174) Navy (286) novel (542) read (339) Royal Navy (247) sailing (174) sea (295) series (226) short stories (309) to-read (491) unread (160) war (279) WWII (319)

Common Knowledge

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Reviews

This novel has a simple structure: the first chapter is the prologue, the second is the story, the third is the epilogue. In the story, Krause, about whom the one unusual thing is that he is an Olympic fencer, must command his own ship and a convoy escort of three smaller ships during a vital day in his life, when the convoy is attacked by several U-boats. The escort is multi-national; Krause is a US officer, but the other ships are English, Canadian, and Polish respectively. His day last for more than 48 hours, as the action continues, until finally, in the epilogue, he collapses into sleep. The book is all action; the humor in it arises from his slow progress in getting dressed once interrupted by a summons and his regular failures to actually manage to consume the food that is brought to him as he is always interrupted by a new emergency. He always makes it to the head, but each time he returns to a new crisis. The action as the Keeling and the Viktor cooperate to hunt a U-Boat reminds me of a nature film I saw in which two orcas hunt a penguin. The penguin is nimbler, but the orcas are faster and two orcas proves one too many for the penguin, eventually. Thus also for the U-Boat.

Vivid, confusing and simple, the novel does not have the depth of characterization of the Hornblower novels. Also, it seems to me that Forester was inclined to make all his US protagonists devoutly Christian, "The Captain from Connectictut"s eponymous protagonist is devout, although surely not Lutheran.
… (more)
 
Flagged
themulhern | 13 other reviews | Dec 9, 2023 |
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would - after a few pages of reading Allnut's accent on the page, I began to relax and to enjoy this one for what it was. The descriptions of the river and the geography of the landscape makes this only one step removed from travel writing. I also rather liked the ending - a slight fudge, you might complain, but it served a few very useful purposes.
 
Flagged
soylentgreen23 | 42 other reviews | Nov 20, 2023 |
Ah, but for the ending...
½
 
Flagged
addunn3 | 42 other reviews | Aug 29, 2023 |
A somewhat embellished short account of what might have gone on during the time the Bismark left port to it's end a few days later. Moral, no matter how superior your ship and its guns are, don't pit it unsupported against even an aging moderately sized navy.
 
Flagged
quondame | 4 other reviews | Aug 29, 2023 |

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Associated Authors

Clare West Editor
Samuel H. Bryant Illustrator
Alexander Kent Contributor
N. C. Wyeth Illustrator
A. J. Urban Translator
Louis Renner Translator
Nicolas Coster Narrator, Performer
Bernard Cornwell Introduction
J.C. Mollema Translator
Ana Herrera Translator
Robin Jacques Cover artist, Illustrator
John Armand Translator
Paweł Stachura Translator
Eugen Beulwitz Übersetzer
Fortunat Weigel Translator, Übersetzer
Ioan Gruffud Narrator
Tricia Hedge Contributor
Val Biro Illustrator
W.D. Graham Contributor
Ioan Gruffudd Narrator
David Case Narrator
A.M.P. Mollema Translator
David Mann Cover artist
Arnošt Šulc Translator
Britta Mümmler Übersetzer
Flóra Fencsik Translator
Victor Edman Narrator
René Robert Translator
Louis Guilloux Translator
泰邦 高橋 Translator
Gerard Grasman Translator
R. Gruson Translator
Eero Huhtala Translator
Doris Kornau Translator
Max Tidof Sprecher
Aulis Savolainen Translator
Věra Hrubá Translator
Joe McLaren Illustrator
Ada E. Franco Translator
Odd Feydt Translator
Oscar Krokstedt Translator
Jim Frangione Narrator
Nello Giugliano Translator
Mogens Boisen Translator
Ivan Hrbek Translator
Erich Kranzl Translator
K. B. Palkovský Translator
Annemarie Horst Translator
D. J. Taylor Introduction
F. Oliveira Faia Translator
Reg Broad Narrator
Ursula Wulfecamp Translator
Heinz F. Kliem Translator
Chris Mayger; Illustrator
Len Goldberg Cover illustration
Geoffrey Whittam Illustrator
Robert Lawson Illustrator
Ian McNee Illustrator
Jetse Reijenga Introduction

Statistics

Works
145
Also by
156
Members
30,091
Popularity
#669
Rating
4.0
Reviews
528
ISBNs
970
Languages
19
Favorited
116

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