Rating: 
Summary: Mutiny thwarted
Review:
All of Alexander Kent's (a pen name) Richard Bolitho series are well-written. This one, they say was written first, but I suggest you read them in the chronological order of the protagonist's (Richard Bolitho) career. beginning with the one titled, Midshipman Bolitho. In that order this is number four, in which he is given command of a frigate, the Phalarope, his second command. Bolitho's naval career starts at the tender age of 12, but the first book in the series picks him up at the age of 16--already a veteran midshipman.
Kent is a first rate story-teller. His main concern is the story, rather than a mass of technical detail about ship's rigs, sails, etc., which are of interest to some of us, but of less interest, perhaps, to those who simply want to get on with the story. None of his stories drag. There is action a-plenty, including lurid descriptions of men getting their heads blown off and their limbs amputated. Hand-to-hand combat is common in boarding parties and on dry land expeditions. I have some personal experience with sailing vessels, having built and sailed my own ketch-rigged sailboat on the Pacific with my family, and so far as I can tell Kent's sail handling descriptions, although necessarily abbreviated for the sake of the story, are technically accurate. I am more familiar with fore and aft rigs than square riggers, though. This book concerns the end period of the American Revolution. Bolitho's Phalarope is operating in the West Indies. It is refreshing to see that war through the eyes of a British naval officer, and it rings with truth. The final battle, pitting the French Admiral De Grasse against the British George Rodney and Hood, at the sea battle known as the battle of the Saintes, in the Caribbean, ends in glory for Bolitho. Bolitho is called upon to command the Phalarope after the death of a harsh captain who drove his crew to the edge of mutiny, and to make matters worse, his complement was filled out with rogues who were not wanted by other ships of the fleet, by an admiral who disliked him. This is a very good book, which, if you are like me, you will enjoy and find it hard to put down. Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)
author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books
Rating:
Summary: Mutiny thwarted
Review:
All of Alexander Kent's (a pen name) Richard Bolitho series are well-written. This one, they say was written first, but I suggest you read them in the chronological order of the protagonist's (Richard Bolitho) career. beginning with the one titled, Midshipman Bolitho. In that order this is number four, in which he is given command of a frigate, the Phalarope, his second command. Bolitho's naval career starts at the tender age of 12, but the first book in the series picks him up at the age of 16--already a veteran midshipman.
Kent is a first rate story-teller. His main concern is the story, rather than a mass of technical detail about ship's rigs, sails, etc., which are of interest to some of us, but of less interest, perhaps, to those who simply want to get on with the story. None of his stories drag. There is action a-plenty, including lurid descriptions of men getting their heads blown off and their limbs amputated. Hand-to-hand combat is common in boarding parties and on dry land expeditions. I have some personal experience with sailing vessels, having built and sailed my own ketch-rigged sailboat on the Pacific with my family, and so far as I can tell Kent's sail handling descriptions, although necessarily abbreviated for the sake of the story, are technically accurate. I am more familiar with fore and aft rigs than square riggers, though. This book concerns the end period of the American Revolution. Bolitho's Phalarope is operating in the West Indies. It is refreshing to see that war through the eyes of a British naval officer, and it rings with truth. The final battle, pitting the French Admiral De Grasse against the British George Rodney and Hood, at the sea battle known as the battle of the Saintes, in the Caribbean, ends in glory for Bolitho. Bolitho is called upon to command the Phalarope after the death of a harsh captain who drove his crew to the edge of mutiny, and to make matters worse, his complement was filled out with rogues who were not wanted by other ships of the fleet, by an admiral who disliked him. This is a very good book, which, if you are like me, you will enjoy and find it hard to put down. Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)
author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books
Rating: 
Summary: If you like the Hornblower books, you'll like this!
Review: Alexander Kent is often compared to C.S. Forester, and the Bolitho books are a worthy successor to Hornblower's adventures. Richard Bolitho is somewhat like Hornblower, a sensitive, humanitarian officer, who often goes beyond the letter of his orders to storm his way to victory. He forms a lifelong friendship with Thomas Herrick, who first appears in the series and in this book, as Bush is a friend to Hornblower, but there are a number of differences. We see a lot more of Bolitho's family than we ever knew of Hornblower, his dad, who has been retired by injuries from the sea, a family with a long tradition of seamen, a brother who deserts and comes back to haunt Richard's path, and more family down the road. But one thing that dominates these books, and those who have run out of Hornblower books to read will love, is a wonderfully rich description of life on sailing ships in the Royal Navy, although this book, the earliest written, leaves us at the end with something of an anti-climax at the battle of the Saintes. That would really be my only criticism--but it is a wonderfully exciting tale of derring-do. Bolitho even has to contend, not just with a ship that has run away from battle at the start, before he assumed command, but he has to keep his ship from mutiny again as the story unfolds. I like Bolitho, I think, almost as well as Hornblower.
Rating:
Summary: 4 blistering broadsides beckon Bolitho beginner
Review: Alexander Kent was second after Dudley Pope to launch a naval series that followed in the wake of C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower. Like Forester, Kent set the first novel when his hero had achieved captaincy and then filled in on both sides. From the beginning Kent established his Richard Bolitho as a stalwart hero in the mould of Hornblower or Pope's Ramage. Kent's novels would be defined by brutal realistic naval battles, action and the spirit of high adventure.
To Glory We Steer is set in the waning months of the American Revolution. Yorktown has been lost and the French under Admiral DeGrasse are looking to extend the victory and drive the British out of the Caribbean. Bolitho is sent to the Caribbean in command of a ship in which a mutiny was put down. The officers and men are all questionable. Can Richard Bolitho assume command, obtain the loyalty of his men and administer a caning to the French? Of course he can but the fun is in watching him do it. The Bolitho novels are cast in the post-romantic mode. Kent excels at action as his titles imply. However, the author knows what real war is like and doesn't flinch in describing the effects of cutlasses and grapeshot on human flesh. Given that the novel was first published during the height of the Vietnam War, it's hard to imagine that Kent could have written To Glory We Steer any other way. Kent keeps sex out of To Glory We Steer following MacLean's dictum that it interfers with the action. In fact, there are no women at all in the book. One sailor's wife has significance to the plot but she doesn't enter the action. To Glory We Steer is a manly book about manly men doing manly things. To Glory We Steer is not as polished as the novels that followed and in my view suffers from one climax too many. The Battle of the Saintes should be the climax of the novel and it loses some of its punch because of earlier action. Also, there are some opportunities missed because Kent wrote the series out of chronological order. For instance, he meets another officer named Dancer. Having read Richard Bolitho-Midshipman and Richard Bolitho and the `Avenger', my first thought was that Bolitho would say, "I served with a Martyn Dancer..." or something to that effect. However, there is no mention of the earlier Dancer. These are minor foibles. It's a little rough around the edges but it's still a great start to great series. Kent novels make an excellent guilty pleasure.
Rating:
Summary: 4 blistering broadsides beckon Bolitho beginner
Review: Alexander Kent was second after Dudley Pope to launch a naval series that followed in the wake of C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower. Like Forester, Kent set the first novel when his hero had achieved captaincy and then filled in on both sides. From the beginning Kent established his Richard Bolitho as a stalwart hero in the mould of Hornblower or Pope's Ramage. Kent's novels would be defined by brutal realistic naval battles, action and the spirit of high adventure. To Glory We Steer is set in the waning months of the American Revolution. Yorktown has been lost and the French under Admiral DeGrasse are looking to extend the victory and drive the British out of the Caribbean. Bolitho is sent to the Caribbean in command of a ship in which a mutiny was put down. The officers and men are all questionable. Can Richard Bolitho assume command, obtain the loyalty of his men and administer a caning to the French? Of course he can but the fun is in watching him do it. The Bolitho novels are cast in the post-romantic mode. Kent excels at action as his titles imply. However, the author knows what real war is like and doesn't flinch in describing the effects of cutlasses and grapeshot on human flesh. Given that the novel was first published during the height of the Vietnam War, it's hard to imagine that Kent could have written To Glory We Steer any other way. Kent keeps sex out of To Glory We Steer following MacLean's dictum that it interfers with the action. In fact, there are no women at all in the book. One sailor's wife has significance to the plot but she doesn't enter the action. To Glory We Steer is a manly book about manly men doing manly things. To Glory We Steer is not as polished as the novels that followed and in my view suffers from one climax too many. The Battle of the Saintes should be the climax of the novel and it loses some of its punch because of earlier action. Also, there are some opportunities missed because Kent wrote the series out of chronological order. For instance, he meets another officer named Dancer. Having read Richard Bolitho-Midshipman and Richard Bolitho and the 'Avenger', my first thought was that Bolitho would say, "I served with a Martyn Dancer..." or something to that effect. However, there is no mention of the earlier Dancer. These are minor foibles. It's a little rough around the edges but it's still a great start to great series. Kent novels make an excellent guilty pleasure.
Rating:
Summary: On the Uproll, Fire!
Review: I have read the Alexander Kent bolitho series since I was in college. I personally think them superior to the Hornblower series, and they undoubtedly are the best of the genre. Exciting, accurate, well-written, and full of adventure against enemy and sea, they give a superb picture of life and warfare at sea in the age of sail. This volume is my favorite. Kent knows his business regarding both seamanship and ships, and leadership, both routine and in combat. He has created a world that encompassess heroes and villains, veterans and neophytes, graceful frigates and ponderous ships of the line, and the darting sloops and brigs that did most of the dirty work. The characters are unforgettable, from Richard Bolitho, Thomas Herrick who becomes his friend and loyal 1st Lieutenant, to Captain Rennie of the ship's marine detachment. And of course, there is John Allday, veteran seaman, pressed man, and who becomes perhaps Bolitho's closestThe ship herself is a main character, and no one who ever reads this book will forget the frigate HMS Phalarope. To those who 'go down to the sea in ships' the vessels themselves are alive, which undoubtedly they are, and this frigate is unforgettable, gallant, and as enduring as her crew. This novel is superb, a tale of high deeds, mutiny, loyalty, friendship, and the horror of combat. Read in conjunction with Robert Gardiner's factual, well illustrated books on the age of sail, they are an unbeatable combination.
Rating:
Summary: On the Uproll, Fire!
Review: I have read the Alexander Kent bolitho series since I was in college. I personally think them superior to the Hornblower series, and they undoubtedly are the best of the genre. Exciting, accurate, well-written, and full of adventure against enemy and sea, they give a superb picture of life and warfare at sea in the age of sail. This volume is my favorite. Kent knows his business regarding both seamanship and ships, and leadership, both routine and in combat. He has created a world that encompassess heroes and villains, veterans and neophytes, graceful frigates and ponderous ships of the line, and the darting sloops and brigs that did most of the dirty work. The characters are unforgettable, from Richard Bolitho, Thomas Herrick who becomes his friend and loyal 1st Lieutenant, to Captain Rennie of the ship's marine detachment. And of course, there is John Allday, veteran seaman, pressed man, and who becomes perhaps Bolitho's closestThe ship herself is a main character, and no one who ever reads this book will forget the frigate HMS Phalarope. To those who 'go down to the sea in ships' the vessels themselves are alive, which undoubtedly they are, and this frigate is unforgettable, gallant, and as enduring as her crew. This novel is superb, a tale of high deeds, mutiny, loyalty, friendship, and the horror of combat. Read in conjunction with Robert Gardiner's factual, well illustrated books on the age of sail, they are an unbeatable combination.
Rating:
Summary: This is my all time favorite book
Review: I originally read this book when I was in middle school. It was one of the first real books that I have ever read. It set the pace (and the bar) of all my future reading. Until this book, I was reading primarily science fiction and fantasy.... This book brought me into the historical fiction arena. I have not left since. Since then, I have read most of the series. Recently, I have gone back and am collecting all the books so that I can read them in order. I am extremely happy to hear that Kent is continueing the story with Bolitho's nephew. This book (and the series) are must read material for everyone that likes historical adventure and especially the Age of Sail.
Rating:
Summary: The one that started it all.
Review: I recieved this book as a birthday present in the 80's, and thought "what were they thinking!?!". It's now 2001 and I have yet to find a more engrossing, and exciting novel. If stranded upon a desert isle with only one book as companion, this would be my choice. Unlike the wimpy "poor little me" Hornblower, Kent's Bolitho is a man's man. Faced with the challenge of a new command, at the openning of a new war, with a family crises around his neck like an albatross, Kent's Bolitho says "Bring it on". This character is what all good sea captains should aspire to be. This story is what all sea stories should aspire to be. There is plenty of good old fashioned battle on the high seas, intermixed with the very good inter-personal actions of the main characters. The plot is engrossing, and the characters are lifelike, and realistic.
I warn you, you will become addicted to this series.
And you will be gratefull for it.
Rating:
Summary: Another outstanding seafaring adventure
Review: Mr Kent delivers another classic account of Richard Bolitho and his adventures. A well written and detailed tale of sea battles, workings of the British ship at war, the customs, the dangers. The characters are great and the plot is superb. I recommend all of Kent's Bolitho series, you won't be disappointed.
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