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HMS Ulysses

Written by: Alistair MacLean
Narrated by: Jonathan Oliver
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Publisher's Summary

The novel that launched the astonishing career of one of the 20th century's greatest writers of action and suspense - an acclaimed classic of heroism and the sea in World War II.

The story of men who rose to heroism, and then to something greater, HMS Ulysses takes its place alongside The Caine Mutiny and The Cruel Sea as one of the classic novels of the navy at war.

It is the compelling story of Convoy FR77 to Murmansk - a voyage that pushes men to the limits of human endurance, crippled by enemy attack and the bitter cold of the Arctic.

©1955 HarperCollins Publishers (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

What the critics say

"A brilliant, overwhelming piece of descriptive writing." ( Observer)
"A story of exceptional courage which grips the imagination." ( Daily Telegraph)
"It deserves an honourable place among 20th-century war books." ( Daily Mail)
" HMS Ulysses is in the same class as The Cruel Sea." ( Evening Standard)

What listeners say about HMS Ulysses

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Probably the best of Alistair McLean

this book is one of the best books i have ever read (listened to). it is so well written that while listening to it i felt physically cold. McLean is know for his great books and i think that this is his best. phenomenal and unmatched by others of this genre.

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The literature of war.

War is the most senseless thing men do. This outstanding novel demonstrates why. It also demonstrates how a mutinous crew of mem become more than they or any but their officers have ever thought they could me. The Ultsses is a cruiser with the ultimate responsibility of taking a merchant ships a cross the Arctic Ocean to Murmansk. You will live with these men as they battle a monstrous storm, desdly ice, days without sleep, submarines, air attack and bore as they battle there way to heartbreak and destiny. Don't miss this constantly action filled novel that challenges The Cruel Sea and Mutiny On The Bounty.

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Cold, so very Cold.

This book really makes you feel what those men and boys went though in WW2.

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  • Brian67
  • 2017-04-15

Amazing but heartbreaking and sad.

One of the most heartbreaking, saddest books I've ever read. The novel has stuck with me for over 50 years, reading it first at the age of 15 and now as an audiobook. I am fascinated by the nature of leadership, heroism, and our human response to extreme physical and psychological environments. Amundsen, Shackleton, and Bligh come to mind in listening to MacLean's imaginary Captain Vallery of the HMS Ulysses.

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9 people found this helpful

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  • Morton T Saunders JR
  • 2018-10-21

Riveting

I have listened and read many of Alistair MacLean’s books and this one tops it for character development set in a harrowing environment and time in history. Worth every second listening.

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4 people found this helpful

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  • John W. Snell
  • 2021-02-11

Magnificent...

Very pleased with this grand gift to myself. Look forward to listening again--soon... The narrator a true master of his art...

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  • Alec Drumm
  • 2017-09-13

Suspenseful but bleak and unrealistic

I wanted to enjoy this book. I was looking forward to a thriller about the arctic convoys in WWII, which is a subject I'm somewhat knowledgeable about. Almost from the beginning though the story of HMS Ulysses felt not real. A mutiny on a Royal Navy cruiser during the war? Everyone involved would have been severely punished.

I don't want to give any spoilers which makes describing the rest of the book difficult. However, readers will probably realize that HMS Ulysses falls into the "everybody dies" category. As soon as you develop an affinity with a character, the story line changes. Perhaps that is the reason that this book was never filmed.

Even a plot like that might not be a big obstacle, but the events described during the escorting mission are far worse than anything experienced in reality by a convoy, even PQ-17 which was almost entirely destroyed. The characters are never more than caricatures. One doesn't get to know the eventual survivors in any detail.

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  • F.D.P.
  • 2020-05-31

Tepid military soap opera suffused with melodrama

Who knew there could be so much hand-wringing and pearl-clutching in a naval yarn. Elmore Leonard advised against starting a novel with the weather. This one never stops.

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  • Ben Strandberg
  • 2019-11-15

great book

The only complaint I have about this book is that at times it was hard to keep track of some of the characters.

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  • katharine potter
  • 2019-08-27

outstanding exposition of human frailty and resilience

rather than an arctic war adventure story, this is an examination of human beings under extreme circumstances, their frailties and courage. characters live and breathe, fail and rise above failure with fascinating motivations, clearly described with great understanding.

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  • John
  • 2019-06-07

Strong Book, Excellent Narration

I read this book back in 1985 and remembered liking it. I was a big MacLean fan back in those days. This book didn’t disappoint. I really enjoyed it and particularly think the narration was excellent. Highly recommended.

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  • Douglas Richardson
  • 2018-07-20

It will stick with you...

I have read most of Maclean's works and really enjoyed most of them. Granted I read many of them as a much younger kid growing up in South Africa, but they were always exciting and so I was thrilled when they finally released the audio books here on Audible.

I jumped on HMS as it was the "good one" that I never read as I heard it was "different," and was the authors first major published book, so I knew it would not be typical. It wasn't.... That said, while not being typical Maclean, it is an exciting story and he paints a narrative of pure hell, pulled from his own naval experience it seems, and creates a great tribute to some very interesting times.

I think the biggest issues with this book is the narrator who tries hard to give personality to the crew, but has the wrong interpretation of the story. He reads many characters in a feeble tone of melancholy and characterizes the captain in a way that sounds like more like Margaret Rutherford of Miss Marple fame rather than a seasoned captain of war Granted he is ill and aging -but he's not delicate and with the melancholy hanging on every line of his and other characters, it taints the story in a way it shouldn't. These were tough people in hard conditions and they should be read as men and not as the disapointed crew of a pleasure cruise gone wrong.

Maclean does a good job of keeping the story pounding along and the tension mostly unrelenting but does digress at times, taking long character breaks that interrupts the tone. He assumes a fairly good understanding of naval ships of the time and various nautical terms that may lead the modern reader to hit Google. There are many pulse pounding scenes however that are described in such detail that they will stick in your minds eye long past the end of this book.

I wish there was a different narrator, but this is a good atypical Maclean adventure that will leave you breathless at times and sets riveting scenes making it well worth a listen outside of the usual context of his typically exciting and purely fictional thrillers.

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  • Fred Simpson
  • 2017-10-08

Misery personified. INCREDIBLE story.

War was only half the battle. If you're looking for an engaging gem about WWII, this is it.

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