Rating: 
Summary: Naval hero helps end the war.
Review: After recovering from the typhus and attending to ceremonies of the knights of the bath, Commodore Hornblower is sent to Le Havre in Normandy to intervene in some mutineers who are demanding a pardon on threat of turning their ship over to the French. In typical Hornblower fashion he captures a very large French cargo vessel, the mutineers ship and another French navel vessel all in a couple of days. But Hornblower isn't done yet. He negotiates with the Mayor of Le Havre to turn against Napoleon with British naval support. Hornblower sails into the harbor with a few hundred marines and takes over. For some weeks he is bound up in administration of the port and it's defenses. A French siege army approaches but a daring row up river blows up their siege guns and powder. Captain Bush is killed in the explosion. The crown prince of France arrives and a whole entourage, along with Lady Barbara. With his army defeated in the south and Normandy held against him, Napoleon abdicates. Hornblower and the crown prince sail up the Seine toward Paris. For his achievements and for political reasons Hornblower is appointed "Lord Hornblower." Lady Barbara goes to Vienna with her brother for political peace talks, so Hornblower visits his friend from "Flying Colors." While he's there Napoleon retakes the country and Hornblower leads a small resistance force tying up several thousand men who might have made a difference elsewhere at Waterloo. There is plenty to like in Lord Hornblower, bravery and wit overcoming long odds at sea, adventures in politics and the splendor of the court. The saga continues.
Rating:
Summary: Difficult and unusual tasks
Review: An initially bleak tale of storm and mutiny in the old British Navy is elegantly told as only Forester has done. The pioneering modern writer of naval sail novels, he set a standard occasionally matched but never surpassed nor so elegant. One of the things that separates Forester's (and initially O'Brian and Pope's) novels is the parallel lives of loved ones ashore whom we occasionally glimpse. This depth of story confers a sense of larger life in a more real world than seaborne battle and naval intrigue alone can do.
This book especially is full of the pathos of life, and the vicissitudes of love-of a crew for the Commodore, for spouse or lover, royal or commoner, and Horatio for his long subordinates Bush and Brown. It is a story of passions, of mutiny or loyalty to country and crew, battlelust and lust of woman, "Boney" and the apathy of peace. Powerful emotions are stirred here. Hornblower is clever at sea but faces disaster on land. The cover art is once again bleak and dark in this Back Bay edition, more redolent of the pain than of the excitement to be found within.
Rating:
Summary: 4 guerilla campaigns with HH on land
Review: C.S. Forester had tremendous success writing 3 Hornblower novellas before World War II followed by Commodore Hornblower after the war. Lord Hornblower sees our hero through the completion of the Napoleonic Wars. While Forester would continue to write Hornblower novels, filling in details from Hornblower's earlier life, the later ones chronologically have the most suspense as the reader really doesn't know how successful HH will be. Still, while very good, Lord Hornblower is not his best in the series. When created, Hornblower may have been unique as an action hero. Here was a man who, although he was brave, intelligent and daring, was plagued by self-doubt and guilt. Before deconstruction became literary vogue, Forester deconstructed the action hero. Forester's genius and inspiring message was in portraying Hornblower with such human weaknesses, yet having him rise to overcome them. In the best of the series Forester successfully balanced Hornblower's self-criticism and analysis with breath-taking naval action. Unfortunately, little of Lord Hornblower takes place at sea. Lord Hornblower starts in fine HH tradition with the recently recovered Hornblower sent to France with a hopeless mission. He must persuade mutineers to turn themselves over so that they can be hanged. Can Hornblower get out of the quandary and brilliantly take advantage of opportunities? Of course he can. However, the book continues as Napoleon is forced to abdicate. The rest of the novel takes place on land. There is more action at the end when Napoleon returns in 1815 for the Hundred Days however the exploits don't compare to those of the past and the naval exploits are non-existent. Lord Hornblower is perhaps the must introspective of the series and not a bad novel by any means. Less than optimum Forester is still better than most material available today. It just doesn't match up to the Captain Hornblower trilogy and Commodore Hornblower. There are no bad entries in the series but this one is the weakest. With the exception of Hornblower and the Atropos, it's also the most tragic. It's still worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: A High Point In The Series
Review: C.S. Forester never fails to tell an exciting tale and 'Lord Hornblower', the 9th novel in the series, is one of the best. Centering on the time around the treaty of Fontainebleau and up through the hundred days and Waterloo, 'Lord Hornblower' has the recently made K.C.B. Hornblower dispactched to deal with a mutinous crew at sea. Eventually, the peace with France allows Hornblower to visit those who sheltered him there during the war. But when Napolean returns to lead France once again, Hornblower finds himself leading a band of partisans against the restored Emperor. This is the last Hornblower novel to take place during the wars and it is a more than fitting end to Hornblower's own battle with Napolean.
Rating:
Summary: Good adventure reading
Review: Get this one and see if it quells your appetite. It won't, but you'll be in the company of the rest of us. Read it again in a couple of years. I've done it half a dozen times.
Rating:
Summary: If you have gotten this far, forget quitting
Review: Get this one and see if it quells your appetite. It won't, but you'll be in the company of the rest of us. Read it again in a couple of years. I've done it half a dozen times.
Rating:
Summary: first edition for sale
Review: have a first edition in good shape of lord hornblower no dust jacket but all there and collectable
Rating:
Summary: The end of the wars.
Review: Hornblowers 2nd to last book details his actions and the Napoleonic wars finally draw to a close. Several loose ends in the series are tied up. We start with Hornblower summoned to quelch an uprising on a British Brig and end with a Chase through the French Countryside during the hundred days. Hornblower is as ever both dynamic and self doubting. His bursts of temper give the book some style as he tries to cope with post war life with Napoleon safely at Elba... ...or so the world thinks. This side of the character which is expanded on in the final book is just as interesting as the rest of the books which shows that good character development and fine writing make a series. Not just roaring guns. Of course the roaring guns don't hurt either...
Rating:
Summary: The end of the wars.
Review: Hornblowers 2nd to last book details his actions and the Napoleonic wars finally draw to a close. Several loose ends in the series are tied up. We start with Hornblower summoned to quelch an uprising on a British Brig and end with a Chase through the French Countryside during the hundred days. Hornblower is as ever both dynamic and self doubting. His bursts of temper give the book some style as he tries to cope with post war life with Napoleon safely at Elba... ...or so the world thinks. This side of the character which is expanded on in the final book is just as interesting as the rest of the books which shows that good character development and fine writing make a series. Not just roaring guns. Of course the roaring guns don't hurt either...
Rating:
Summary: Confusion
Review: I have began reading the Horatio Hornblower saga, but I have a few questions. How many books are there and in what order do they come. I am reading Mr. Midshipman Hornblower. I know that the next one is Lieutenant Hornblower, but I have unable to locate this one in my local library or on Amazon books. If any one has any imformation concerning anyting I have mentioned please e-mail me at proram@kermode.net Thankyou
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