The Fortune of War

Rating:
Summary: Aubrey and Maturin Are Captured By The Americans!
Review: Patrick O'Brian's "The Fortune of War" is yet another riveting installment in his Aubrey/Maturin series of novels. Offered command of the Royal Navy's fastest, most heavily armored, frigate, Jack Aubrey races home with his old friend Stephen Maturin across the Pacific aboard a small vessel which sinks off the coast of Patagonia. Rescued by HMS Java, they are captured by the Americans when Java surrenders to US Navy frigate USS Constitution after a brief duel between both ships. Soon they find themselves in the United States, reunited with Diana Villiers, Stephen's old flame, and involved in some espionage on the streets of Boston. Stephen's past as a British secret agent working against Napoleon will soon haunt him. Eventually they will witness one of the bloodiest engagements between the British and American navies; one of several notable single ship duels fought during the opening months of the war.

Rating:
Summary: Joint Review of All Aubrey-Maturin Books
Review: Some critics have referred to the Aubrey/Maturin books as one long novel united not only by their historical setting but also by the central plot element of the Aubrey/Maturin friendship. Having read these fine books over a period of several years, I decided to evaluate their cumulative integrity by reading them consecutively in order of publication over a period of a few weeks. This turned out to be a rewarding enterprise. For readers unfamiliar with these books, they describe the experiences of a Royal Navy officer and his close friend and traveling companion, a naval surgeon. The experiences cover a broad swath of the Napoleonic Wars and virtually the whole globe.
Rereading all the books confirmed that O'Brian is a superb writer and that his ability to evoke the past is outstanding. O'Brian has numerous gifts as a writer. He is the master of the long, careful description, and the short, telling episode. His ability to construct ingenious but creditable plots is first-rate, probably because he based much of the action of his books on actual events. For example, some of the episodes of Jack Aubrey's career are based on the life of the famous frigate captain, Lord Cochrane. O'Brian excels also in his depiction of characters. His ability to develop psychologically creditable characters through a combination of dialogue, comments by other characters, and description is tremendous. O'Brien's interest in psychology went well beyond normal character development, some books contain excellent case studies of anxiety, depression, and mania.
Reading O'Brien gives vivid view of the early 19th century. The historian Bernard Bailyn, writing of colonial America, stated once that the 18th century world was not only pre-industrial but also pre-humanitarian (paraphrase). This is true as well for the early 19th century depicted by O'Brien. The casual and invariable presence of violence, brutality, and death is a theme running through all the books. The constant threats to life are the product not only of natural forces beyond human control, particularly the weather and disease, but also of relative human indifference to suffering. There is nothing particularly romantic about the world O'Brien describes but it also a certain grim grandeur. O'Brien also shows the somewhat transitional nature of the early 19th century. The British Navy and its vessals were the apogee of what could be achieved by pre-industrial technology. This is true both of the technology itself and the social organization needed to produce and use the massive sailing vessals. Aubrey's navy is an organization reflecting its society; an order based on deference, rigid hierarchy, primitive notions of honor, favoritism, and very, very corrupt. At the same time, it was one of the largest and most effective bureaucracies in human history to that time. The nature of service exacted great penalities for failure in a particularly environment, and great success was rewarded greatly. In some ways, it was a ruthless meritocracy whose structure and success anticipates the great expansion of government power and capacity seen in the rest of the 19th century.
O'Brian is also the great writer about male friendship. There are important female characters in these books but since most of the action takes place at sea, male characters predominate. The friendship between Aubrey and Maturin is the central armature of the books and is a brilliant creation. The position of women in these books is ambiguous. There are sympathetic characters, notably Aubrey's long suffering wife. Other women figures, notably Maturin's wife, leave a less positive impression. On board ship, women tend to have a disruptive, even malign influence.
How did O'Brian manage to sustain his achievement over 20 books? Beyond his technical abilities as a writer and the instrinsic interest of the subject, O'Brien made a series of very intelligent choices. He has not one but two major protagonists. The contrasting but equally interesting figures of Aubrey and Maturin allowed O'Brien to a particularly rich opportunity to expose different facets of character development and to vary plots carefully. This is quite difficult and I'm not aware of any other writer who has been able to accomplish such sustained development of two major protagonists for such a prolonged period. O'Brian's use of his historical setting is very creative. The scenes and events in the books literally span the whole globe as Aubrey and Maturin encounter numerous cultures and societies. The naval setting allowed him also to introduce numerous new and interesting characters. O'Brian was able to make his stories attractive to many audiences. Several of these stories can be enjoyed as psychological novels, as adventure stories, as suspense novels, and even one as a legal thriller. O'Brian was also a very funny writer, successful at both broad, low humor, and sophisticated wit. Finally, O'Brian made efforts to link some of the books together. While a number are complete in themselves, others form components of extended, multi-book narratives. Desolation Island, Fortune of War, and The Surgeon's Mate are one such grouping. Treason's Harbor, The Far Side of the World, and The Reverse of the Medal are another. The Letter of Marque and the ensuing 4 books, centered around a circumnavigation, are another.
Though the average quality of the books is remarkably high, some are better than others. I suspect that different readers will have different favorites. I personally prefer some of the books with greater psychological elements. The first book, Master and Commander, is one of my favorites. The last 2 or 3, while good, are not as strong as earlier books. I suspect O'Brian's stream of invention was beginning to diminish. All can be read profitably as stand alone works though there is definitely something to be gained by reading in consecutive order.

Rating:
Summary: Joint Review of All Aubrey-Maturin Books
Review: Some critics have referred to the Aubrey/Maturin books as one long novel united not only by their historical setting but also by the central plot element of the Aubrey/Maturin friendship. Having read these fine books over a period of several years, I decided to evaluate their cumulative integrity by reading them consecutively in order of publication over a period of a few weeks. This turned out to be a rewarding enterprise. For readers unfamiliar with these books, they describe the experiences of a Royal Navy officer and his close friend and traveling companion, a naval surgeon. The experiences cover a broad swath of the Napoleonic Wars and virtually the whole globe.
Rereading all the books confirmed that O'Brian is a superb writer and that his ability to evoke the past is outstanding. O'Brian has numerous gifts as a writer. He is the master of the long, careful description, and the short, telling episode. His ability to construct ingenious but creditable plots is first-rate, probably because he based much of the action of his books on actual events. For example, some of the episodes of Jack Aubrey's career are based on the life of the famous frigate captain, Lord Cochrane. O'Brian excels also in his depiction of characters. His ability to develop psychologically creditable characters through a combination of dialogue, comments by other characters, and description is tremendous. O'Brien's interest in psychology went well beyond normal character development, some books contain excellent case studies of anxiety, depression, and mania.
Reading O'Brien gives vivid view of the early 19th century. The historian Bernard Bailyn, writing of colonial America, stated once that the 18th century world was not only pre-industrial but also pre-humanitarian (paraphrase). This is true as well for the early 19th century depicted by O'Brien. The casual and invariable presence of violence, brutality, and death is a theme running through all the books. The constant threats to life are the product not only of natural forces beyond human control, particularly the weather and disease, but also of relative human indifference to suffering. There is nothing particularly romantic about the world O'Brien describes but it also a certain grim grandeur. O'Brien also shows the somewhat transitional nature of the early 19th century. The British Navy and its vessals were the apogee of what could be achieved by pre-industrial technology. This is true both of the technology itself and the social organization needed to produce and use the massive sailing vessals. Aubrey's navy is an organization reflecting its society; an order based on deference, rigid hierarchy, primitive notions of honor, favoritism, and very, very corrupt. At the same time, it was one of the largest and most effective bureaucracies in human history to that time. The nature of service exacted great penalities for failure in a particularly environment, and great success was rewarded greatly. In some ways, it was a ruthless meritocracy whose structure and success anticipates the great expansion of government power and capacity seen in the rest of the 19th century.
O'Brian is also the great writer about male friendship. There are important female characters in these books but since most of the action takes place at sea, male characters predominate. The friendship between Aubrey and Maturin is the central armature of the books and is a brilliant creation. The position of women in these books is ambiguous. There are sympathetic characters, notably Aubrey's long suffering wife. Other women figures, notably Maturin's wife, leave a less positive impression. On board ship, women tend to have a disruptive, even malign influence.
How did O'Brian manage to sustain his achievement over 20 books? Beyond his technical abilities as a writer and the instrinsic interest of the subject, O'Brien made a series of very intelligent choices. He has not one but two major protagonists. The contrasting but equally interesting figures of Aubrey and Maturin allowed O'Brien to a particularly rich opportunity to expose different facets of character development and to vary plots carefully. This is quite difficult and I'm not aware of any other writer who has been able to accomplish such sustained development of two major protagonists for such a prolonged period. O'Brian's use of his historical setting is very creative. The scenes and events in the books literally span the whole globe as Aubrey and Maturin encounter numerous cultures and societies. The naval setting allowed him also to introduce numerous new and interesting characters. O'Brian was able to make his stories attractive to many audiences. Several of these stories can be enjoyed as psychological novels, as adventure stories, as suspense novels, and even one as a legal thriller. O'Brian was also a very funny writer, successful at both broad, low humor, and sophisticated wit. Finally, O'Brian made efforts to link some of the books together. While a number are complete in themselves, others form components of extended, multi-book narratives. Desolation Island, Fortune of War, and The Surgeon's Mate are one such grouping. Treason's Harbor, The Far Side of the World, and The Reverse of the Medal are another. The Letter of Marque and the ensuing 4 books, centered around a circumnavigation, are another.
Though the average quality of the books is remarkably high, some are better than others. I suspect that different readers will have different favorites. I personally prefer some of the books with greater psychological elements. The first book, Master and Commander, is one of my favorites. The last 2 or 3, while good, are not as strong as earlier books. I suspect O'Brian's stream of invention was beginning to diminish. All can be read profitably as stand alone works though there is definitely something to be gained by reading in consecutive order.

Rating:
Summary: Best in the series to date!
Review: The Aubrey/Maturin series seems to get even better with each installment. The Fortune of War begins with Lucky Jack bringing his ship into port after the events of Desolation Island and reaches a thunderous conclusion with historical battle between the Chesapeake and the Shannon. In between O'Brian provides the reader with naval disasters, naval battles, cloak and dagger, tense escapes and even a cricket game! All this is set against the backdrop of the opening months of the War of 1812. The reader lives through unexpected reverses at sea and unanticipated successes on land in what is a tragic and senseless war.

In The Fortune of War Aubrey and Maturin spend much of their time in the United States where Louisa Wogan and Diana Villiers of early books reside. The reader gets an excellent feel for the period and place. Interestingly, in what appears to be a nod to modern readers, O'Brian cites the low taxes in the USA. Also, many modern readers might be surprised to read how unpopular "Mr. Madison's War" was at the time. Ironically what was a nasty, vicious war on the Canada/US border was a gentleman's war at sea. Officers were paroled and free to roam the streets in an enemy city. Ships' captains could write courteous letters to enemy captains inviting them out to engage in bloody naval conflicts. Perhaps the greatest irony was that the two societies with the freest men were engaging in a wasteful conflict while a tyrant was running roughshod over Europe.

Perhaps the most interesting perspectives for the naval buff are O'Brian's explanations of initial American successes at sea and their affect on British morale. According to O'Brian American frigates (the largest class they had available) outgunned their RN counterparts. Furthermore, many of their officers and men had learned their gunnery skills on RN ships. However, the RN was also the victim of some its own policies and past successes. The restrictions on the use of gunpowder in practice left Captains without independent means the opportunity to maintain crews with a high level of fighting efficiency. Furthermore, the systems of privilege and patronage had put a number of excellent captains on shore and poor or mediocre captains at the helms of fighting ships. Nelson's successes were also a problem. His approach to attacking French and Spanish ships was inadequate for better trained American crews. For the RN, which had a magnificent track record for decades culminating with Nelson's victory at Trafalgar, the few relatively insignificant tactical losses to the Americans were devastating to morale. Aubrey's reaction demonstrates this thoroughly. The fact that ships like the Constitution were severely damaged and out of action for long periods after victories did not satisfy. Nor did the victories on land in Canada.

The Fortune of War features some of the best action sequences that O'Brian put on paper. In particular, the historical battle sequences are riveting. The reader also gets to see the good Dr. Maturin as a man of action. Somewhat surprisingly the gentle doctor can be quite ruthless when the need arises. Rescued from torture by Jack Aubrey earlier in the series, it is now Maturin who plays the role of rescuer.

O'Brian has succeeded in providing his most action packed novel to date without sacrificing any of the use of language and insight into human nature that have been constants in the series. This is the best entry to date in what may be the greatest historical series written.

Rating:
Summary: O'Brian is back in stride after a slight stumble . . .
Review: The previous volume ended with the orchestrated escape of Mrs. Wogan and Michael Herapath from Desolation Island in an American whaler, and the reader knew that "the horrible old LEOPARD" was about to forge on, too, having managed to replace her destroyed rudder. This volume begins in late 1812, with the LEOPARD limping into harbor in the East Indies, with only a sentence or two given to the fate of Gov. William Bligh in Australia -- which didn't strike me as quite fair. The historical Bligh is a very interesting personality. However. The LEOPARD is good now only as a transport, and Jack Aubrey has been told of a nice frigate awaiting his command on his return to England, so he and Dr. Maturin and their followers take homebound passage with an old acquaintance of Jack's. It's a lovely voyage as far as the mid-Atlantic, but then events catch up with them, and they find themselves in a small boat struggling to reach the coast of Brazil. They're rescued by the JAVA -- which is then taken by the CONSTITUTION, the third British frigate to fall to the small U.S. Navy in a very short time. Very depressing for our heroes, but O'Brian doesn't hesitate to laud the abilities of the American seamen and commanders. Maturin and the wounded Jack end up as prisoners of war in Boston, where Stephen Maturin's intelligence activities against Napoleonic France come back to haunt him, and where he joins up again with Diana Villiers, Herapath (father and son), and Louisa Wogan. The focus is more on Maturin in this book than in most of the others (so far), and he shows himself to be quite cold-blooded when necessary in pursuit of his covert objectives. Escape from Boston becomes necessary when it becomes obvious that no exchange is contemplated for them, and they make their way to the SHANNON, which is maintaining the blockade of Boston Harbor, and which sends in a gentlemanly challenge to the CHESAPEAKE to come out and fight -- all of which is historically accurate, though strange to modern notions of warfare. And that brief but epic engagement is where this volume ends, with an obvious segue into the next. The earlier volumes were generally self-contained narratives, with a period of unremarked time passing between them, but the present novels cover too great a series of events to be dealt with properly in a single volume. And the greater the impact they have on history, the more Jack tends to recede into a secondary position -- which is only fair, since O'Brian didn't want to perturb the historical record too greatly. I enjoyed this volume in the series rather more than the last one, perhaps because I'm more knowledgeable than most about the early National period in the U.S. and the War of 1812 in particular. O'Brian does an excellent, balanced job of describing the local political situation in New England, and his powers of characterization are as strong as ever.

Rating:
Summary: They keep getting better
Review: This is the poorest of O'Brian's books in the series. He was an author who prided himself on historical accuracy, but he misses the mark in this book about Aubrey and Maturin captured in Boston. First, Aubrey is severely wounded when HMS Java is captured by the USS Constitution. Unable to travel (!?) from central America to Britain on a prisoner of war cartel, he instead is brought to Boston (1500 miles) along with faithful Stephen Maturin. Once there, his captors allow them to find refuge in a private hospital on Beacon Hill. Not to give away the plot, Aubrey claims that he has not been parolled and therefore he and Matirin can slip away and rejoin the Royal Navy, then blockading Boston. Bosh! Any captive must be parolled in order to avoid being kept under close arrest. This would never have happened in "real life." For Aubrey and Maturin to live in a private hospital, both would have been parolled: had to give their word (their honor) that because they were not watched or guarded that they would not run away. Not only do they eventually run away, but Maturin, armed and dangerous, fights French agents in Boston's streets. Second, O'Brian's Boston exists only in his mind, not in any historical reality. O'Brian possibly constructed Boston based upon maps, but had little understanding of the city in 1813. The geography is vague (and often cloaked in dense fog.) He mentions how a character could drive from Boston to Salem and back in 2-3 hours in a carriage. Salem is 20 miles north of the unbridged Charles River estuary; it might take 2-3 hours today to drive a roundtrip (given the traffic on the interstate and surface roads), but such a trip in 1813 would have been a fantasy. O'Brian's Boston never existed. Third, O'Brian constructs an elaborate French owned hotel (somewhere along Washington Street) to play out his duel between Stephen Maturin and the evil French secret service agents. These agents have the run of Boston and even wound a boy while trying to shoot Maturin. The Americans let the French have their way. In reality, Boston was a Federalist stronghold and therefore any French agents would have had to work out of sight. Napoleon's France was not an ally of the United States. The U.S. fought an undeclared naval war against the French during John Adams' administration to break the mutual defence treaty that this country had made with King Louis XVI in 1778. That French agents could work openly in the United States in 1813 is O'Brian's invention. Fourth, Stephen Maturin wants to marry the tiresome Diane Villiers because she has become a naturalized American citizen and this would be the easiest way for her to become a British subject again (and also accomplish what Maturin has wanted since book two.) O'Brian should know that Britain never recognized any of its subjects becoming naturalized citizens of any other country. This was the whole issue of British impressment of American sailors: born British, always British. There is no need for Maturin to marry Villiers to remake her a British subject: in the eyes of British law she never ceased being British.

All in all, this book was not up to the standard that I have expected in O'Brian's novels. The depth of his research shows through the entire twenty books, but is demonstrated less here than in the other 19. The gaffs were big enough to ruin the plot for me.

Rating:
Summary: It's not just naval fiction, it's also a spy novel
Review: This is the sixth in the excellent series about a British Navy Captain and his friend the British Intelligence Agent but it is a little different from the previous novels. Steven Maturin the spy is definitely at center stage while Captain Aubrey mostly waits in the wings.

This book is therefore, by and large, a spy novel. After being captured with his friend by the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812, Maturin enveavours to keep the Americans from discovering that he is anything but a simple surgeon and naturalist. To make his life even more complicated, his lost love is also living in America and he struggles with his feelings toward her even as ruthless French agents seek him through the twisted streets of Boston.

But Captain Aubrey isn't entirely neglected. The English and American Navy are locked in a series of frigate battles and Aubrey and Maturin manage to be in the middle of two of them.

O'Brien upholds the outstanding reputation this series has garnered with another fine contribution.

Rating:
Summary: Another Strong Outing
Review: This is the sixth volume in the Aubrey/Maturin series, and focusses on the War of 1812 - although less than a third of the way through the series, we are now getting quite late in the Napoleonic Wars. The story continues the same voyage from 'Desolation Island', and the events and characters of that book are significant. So it's advisable to read that prior to this, even if you don't read all of the five prequels.

Two naval battles and a desperate longboat voyage are featured, but the heart of the story is Aubrey and Maturin as POWs in Boston, where Maturin's past spying activities are coming back to haunt him. This part of the story is done very well.

The principal complaint is one that applies to all the books in this series, so at least readers will be used to it by now. The books are loaded with contemporary naval terms and slang which O'Brian never stops to explain, leaving the reader to spend almost as much time at sea as the heroes.

The series is generally strong on historical authenticity, but an earlier revewer complains that this volume is an exception. I suspect that is so; from my own knowledge of the War of 1812, the close Franco-American alliance which is portrayed in this book, while it would have made political sense, never really existed. Such errors are unfortunate in an author who normally avoids them, but they didn't spoil the story for me.