Mr. Midshipman Hornblower: A Book Review

Joanna Klazinga

A Book Review

History 102

Written by C.S. Forester in 1950 (who invented the character of Hornblower after a one day cruise in a lifeboat), Mr. Midshipman Hornblower is the first book chronologically in his Horatio Hornblower series. It is organized which each chapter as its own short story and details the adventures that befall Hornblower while serving as a Midshipman in the British Navy during the time of the French Revolution. Action follows Hornblower at every turn once he starts his career in the Navy, and as a result, he learns much about loyalty, discipline, endurance, and the fitting behavior of an officer.

After a duel with another Midshipman on the Justinian, Hornblower is offered the chance of a lifetime in a place aboard the Indefatigable. During his time on the frigate, he learns about the need for flexibility and quick thinking when confronted with the ever changing circumstances that war and the rough seas bring. He has many harrowing adventures while serving on the Indefatigable, such as being put in command of a prize ship that soon sinks, being sent to France with a battalion of English and French royalist soldiers as an interpreter, and being quarantined for a couple of weeks for fear of the plague, to name a few. Eventually, Hornblower leads an attack that overpowers a Spanish galley, after which honorable event he is made acting-Lieutenant. When he is in the middle of taking his Lieutenants exam, he is delayed by yet more adventure in the form of Fire ships.

Though the fast pace of the stories make this book difficult to put down, the sheer amount of unexpected and incredible things that happen to Hornblower in such a short amount of time make it slightly unbelievable and require a healthy imagination. One might have a hard time believing that Hornblower is only seventeen years old when the book begins, and yet through the course of the year or so in which its events take place, he experiences enough action to last a lifetime.

However, this novel is well written, and it is easy to understand what the author intends to convey. In a book about life in the Navy and adventure at sea, an author could easily get bogged down with explanation on the details of the ship itself. While this book gives the sense that the author is knowledgeable upon these subjects, and that he seems to use the correct terminology, he does not seem to feel the need to explain where everything is on the boat, or go into detail about the average day on the boat, which makes this novel easier to read.

Forester himself never had very much personal experience aboard ships like the ones that Hornblower sailed on, but once purchased a three volume set of the Naval Chronicle, which is a journal that was published during the Napoleonic wars. By using these journals, he familiarized himself with the historical detail of that time period. He had experience writing about that time period previous to writing this book, as his Death to the French was written about a soldier fighting in the Peninsular War in the British Army. When Forester was young, he was unable to join the army in fighting World War I because of his weak heart, which was disappointing to him. He thought that he would try medicine instead and started medical school, but soon found that that was not for him either, so he turned to writing. Later in his life, he was a propaganda writer for the Allied forces during World War II and accompanied an American warship on one of its missions. [1]

Forester does a good job at intertwining historical fact with fiction without feeling the need to provide a long retelling of relevant historical events. Though there is history throughout this novel as it is applicable to the story, and it is what you would call a work of historical fiction, there is no extra paragraph in any of the chapters that tells about what is happening in the world at the time. Unless historical data is necessary to express certain aspects of the circumstances to which Hornblower is subjected, it is not included in this book. Forester is succinct in his history but does not abandon it entirely, which is a good mix for the type of story that he is writing. 

Overall, this book is perfect for those who want to have a light, fun read about naval warfare while still reading some little bit of historical significance. Well-written and interesting, it is probably best suited for middle-school aged readers, as it might be a little fanciful for older readers, and a little complex for younger readers. Good for pleasure reading and, as it happens, book review assignments.

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[1] All biographical information was gleaned from www.oxforddnb.com.medford.usclancaster.sc.edu.