Excellent synthesized life of Hornblower by quite a good novelist in this Age of Fighting Sail era. ( )

If you like the Hornblower series you will probably enjoy this book. There is, of course, not a lot of new material about Hornblower. (Except in the appendices. Don't skip them!) But to fans it is very satisfying to have the whole laid out and treated as a serious life. There is also a good deal of historical background made clear that is taken for granted in the series. This book also follows the family after Hornblower's retirement.

BTW Isn't it high time I reread the series? ( )

Not much more really than a retelling of the Hornblower stories, although quite a bit of "filling in" is provided. I've loved every one of the Hornblower novels and was very happy to add this "biography" to my collection. ( )

My husband and I bought this book when it came out in 1971, read it, and tucked it away in a box when we moved. I've just re-discovered it, slightly battered from being stored in an outdoor shed. It's a good today as it was then. Everything, including the blurb on the cover, presents this book as a detailed biography of a real historical figure including genealogical charts of his descendants up through 1949. And if you're a Hornblower fan, like we were, you'll want to believe every word is the truth. ( )

http://books.moonsoar.com/archives/2007/07/24/the-life-and-times-of-horatio-horn... ( )