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Master and Commander

Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 1

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Master and Commander

Written by: Patrick O'Brian
Narrated by: Patrick Tull
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About this listen

 This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, Royal Navy, and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against the thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the road of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.©1984 Patrick O'Brian (P)2003 Recorded Books, LLC. Historical Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Royal Navy Exciting Sailing Sports Classics

What the critics say

"The best historical novels ever written." (The New York Times Book Review)
"No writer alive can move one as O'Brian can; no one can make you laugh so loud with hilarity, whiten your knuckles with unbearable tension or choke with emotion. He is the master." (Irish Times)
All stars
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Patrick O’Brian gives the reader no possible reason to suspect that he himself was not there.

Awesome story-telling

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loved it, felt as though I was a part of such a glorious era of sail and sea. I'm looking forward to book 2.

Set sails

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much better than anticipated...immersive, informative, and entertaining. looking forward to the rest of the series.

Superb!

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I can understand why this book received so many high marks. It is well written with a phenomenal amount of detail of nautical terms as used in the late 18th and early 19th century. In addition, there is a plethora of characters that are likely to appear in subsequent books of the series. Having said that, this book did not do it for me and I will not continue with the series. The plot, if any exists is pretty meager. I guess that I am not a fan of naval literature.

Well written and narrated

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