To Glory We Steer

Kent ranks right ups there with Forester (perhaps even better) and O'Brian (not quite as good as Patrick) in the realm of nautical fiction. There are still other authors out there I am only now discovering, as publishers — bless their souls — have discovered the market for this wonderful genre following in the wake of the very successful Aubrey/ Maturin series. McBooks Press and the Naval Institute have both begun "classic naval books" series to reissue titles that have been long out-of- print. Kent's hero is Richard Bolitho.

Unfortunately, I was unable to begin with the first volume in the series, a shortcoming that I will have to remedy. Bolitho is the son of a seafaring family. We learn in this volume that his black-sheep show more brother, Hugh, has fled to America to seek his fortune (it's 1782). Hugh has also become the captain of an American privateer. Richard is given command of the Phalarope, a ship beset with a mutinous crew, an ex-cowardly captain, and a vicious first lieutenant. He is sent to the West Indies where he and Hugh unintentionally stumble into each other's way during a battle. Richard is later captured and becomes the prisoner of his brother. Through a fortuitous change in the weather, Richard escapes. Much to the consternation of the service, he fails to kill his brother in the process, the theory being that perhaps he had shown leniency to an enemy. The Phalarope, Richard's ship, almost succumbs to a mutiny — hard to believe that might happen to Hornblower — but of course Richard manages to redeem himself in the eyes of the admiral and participate in a rather vicious battle against the French. An excellent read. show less

This is the first one published back in 1968 and it has all of the seeds (story wise) of the ones published later that come before it in the time line. I'm really happy that I was able to read them chronologically because if I had I started with this one I would not have had the joy of getting to the crescendo of the story that climaxes in this book. In To Glory we Steer, we have Bolitho commanding his first frigate, a ship with a very dark cloud looming over it. Mutiny, distrust, tragedy. Bolitho must gain the trust of his crew despite the weakness of the officers serving under him. To Glory we Steer closes a part of Bolitho's life with a very big bang. It also ends the narrative arc of the Revolutionary War. I liked it despite having show more to say goodbye to beloved characters and I'm warming up to the new ones introduced that will follow their captain in the adventures to come. show less

Richard Bolitho is a member of a famous Cornish Naval Family, and starts his Napoleonic Naval adventures earlier than Hornblower. It's very much to the Hornblower format, except that Bolitho is much less cerebral.

This book had been sitting on my shelves for years, but I finally picked it up for bedtime reading and it worked fine in that role. It also left me curious enough about the past and future adventures of Richard Bolitho, so I'll look up the next book in the series (in publication order) at some point.

Bolitho copes with a mutiny, then joins fleet against French in Caribbean

Enero de 1783, en el puerto de Portsmouth. La fragata de Su Majestad Phalarope recibe órdenes de acudir en apoyo de la debilitada flota del Caribe. Bolitho es su nuevo comandante. A primera vista la Phalarope es todo lo que puede desear un joven capitán, pero en realidad se trata de un buque caído en desgracia, la plana mayor de la flota lo considera un buque maldito y no confía en él. Entre sus oficiales reina la codicia y la ambición, mientras que entre la marinería corren rumores de insubordinación.

JANUARY 1782, PORTSMOUTH. His Britannic Majesty's frigate Phalarope is ordered to the assistance of the hard-pressed squadrons in the Carribean. Aboard is her new commander - Richard Bolitho.To all appearances the Phalarope is everything a young captain could wish for. But beneath the surface she is a deeply unhappy ship - her wardroom torn by petty greed and ambition, her deckhands driven to near-mutiny by senseless ill-treatment...