Sloop of War: The Richard Bolitho Novels [Paperback]

So far this is the fourth in the Bolitho series I've read, by Alexander Kent (a pseudonym). That must tell you that I like the series. I have also ordered, and just received the next three in the series.

Like O'Brian's Captain Jack Aubrey series, it is best to read these books in order, since they are in a chronological series as far as the protagonist's career is concerned. Richard Bolitho was born and raised in Cornwall of a seafaring family. He went to sea as a midshipman at the age of twelve. The series picks him up at age 16, in Midshipman Bolitho, the first book of the series, when he was serving on a ship-of-the-line--a third rater. There are actually two stories in that first book.

Each book will stand alone, but I think it is better to read them as the fictional hero lived it, in order. There are a great many books in the series. I'll be sorry when I've read the last one--number 26, Relentless Pursuit.

Kent is obviously very knowledgeable about the sea and the square rigged ships of the Royal Navy circa the late 18th and early 19th century, as well as the customs, hardships, and naval strategy of the time. But, to him, the story comes first, and he is a master story-teller. The action never drags, and his characters seem to live. There is truth in his depiction of the brutal, sometimes arrogant, often bullying sea officers and petty officers that feels accurate and realistic.

The implements of sea warfare: pikes, pistols, muskets, and especially cutlasses, swords and hangers are well described, as are their uses. I had to look up the "hanger." It is a short, usually curved, thick-blades short sword used in hand-to-hand combat. And there is a lot of hand-to-hand combat in this book, as well as the others.

As the late O'Brian indicated in his series, the cannon balls were less destructive of human life than the splinters they caused when they struck these wooden sailing craft.

This is truly a great series, and if you like sea tales--expecially those written about this period in history often referred to as the time of "wooden ships and iron men," then I cannot recommend Alexander Kent's books too highly.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre, USN (Ret)

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

This is a masterful story in young command. It presents a remarkable interior look at the development of command, not only in the outward heroism of Bolitho and the contrasting incompetence of arrogant superiors, but of their inner states of mind, and occasionally that of their subordinates in the gut-wrenching heat of battle. We see the minutiae for which a captain is responsible, but especially the burden of command when people will die from the decisions he must make. Also, Bolitho falls resoundingly in love again, this time with an insouciant and manipulative aristocrat, of whom he had best beware! (This minx would make a great continuing character, a beguiling nemesis in the wings.) This is an altogether better and deeper story than its predecessors. It is as full of exciting episodes of bloody action as ever, but contains multiple plot lines and carries an emotional depth that is new.

The book is set in the middle part of the American war of indepence. There are no fleet to fleet actions. Rather it is a sea war of small ships on both sides, schooners, sloops and in the case of the Americans, what ever they can lay their hands on. It is a campaign of blockade pure and simple.

It is also a war of combined or joint operations. The Navy getting the Army off a hostile shore or transporting them to one. It is a difficult process in the best of times but for a new captain it is more difficult than usual.

Bolitho is a success as a privateer hunter and over the course of the book brings pain and discomfort to those who operate these ships. Little does he know that some of the discomfort is felt by the very people he and his ship are trying to defend and maintain in power. This almost costs him his life in more than one instance.

Bolitho is also faced with the daunting task of working for a superior Naval officer consumed by a desire for distinction and who will stop at nothing to achive it. His desires, likewise, almost cost Bolitho his life, and does cost the life of his sistership.

There is another person in his crew you come to learn more about and admire or dislike for it. This is his first lieutenant, an American who has stayed loyal to the crown. He is hated by the American rebels, his property and friends have all been destroyed by either the British or American forces. He is not really trusted by the British. His is a lonely life and as I learned more about him, as the story developed, I found he had a lot that made me admire him. Kent catches the extreme difficulty of a man in this situation with accuraccy and understanding. It is a continuing high point of the story.

Bolitho's ship misses the one fleet action during this time frame. Rather he is transporting troops to assist in Cornwallis's defense of Yorktown and arrives too late. So after almost three years, he is sent back to the United Kingdom and it is with sorrow that he leaves the ship and crew, who have become his friends.

Kent delivers a great read. One I have read and read over the last few decades. It is one of the first of Kent's books I read and have never forgotten it. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the Royal Navy of sail and the American War of Independence as seen from the Royal Navy's point of view.