Master and Commander
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd; Harper Collins Pb
Published: October 6, 2003
Language: eng
Number of pages: 400
ISBN-13: 9780007157860
First sentence: THE MUSIC-ROOM IN the Governor's House at Port Mahon, a tall, handsome, pillared octagon, was filled with the triumphant first movement of Locatelli's C major quartet.
Description: This book is the first of the author's Aubrey-Maturin novels. It establishes the friednship between Captain Jack Aubrey RN and Stephen Maturin, who becomes his ship's surgeon and a secret agent. It is the dawn of the nineteenth century; Britain is at war with Napoleon's France. When Jack Aubrey, a young lieutenant in Nelson's Navy, is promoted to Captain, he inherits command of HMS Sophie, an old, slow brig unlikely to make his fortune. But Captain Aubrey is a brave and gifted seaman, his thirst for adventure and victory immense. With the aid of his friend Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and secret intelligence agent, Aubrey and his crew engage in one thrilling battle after another, their journey culminating in a clash with a mighty Spanish frigate against whose guns and manpower the tiny Sophie is hopelessly outmatched.