The Mauritius Command (Aubrey-Maturin series, Book 4)

''Patrick O'Brian presents the lost arcana of that hard-pressed, cruel, courageous world with an immediacy that makes its workings both comprehensible and fascinating. But in the end it is the serious exploration of human character that gives the books their greatest power: the fretful play of mood that can irrationally darken the edges of the brightest triumph and that can feed a trickle of merriment into the midst of terror and tragedy.'' -- New York Times Book Review ''O'Brian's sheer brilliance as a writer constantly dazzles, and his power over the reader is unique. No writer alive can move one as O'Brian can; no one can make you laugh so loud with hilarity, whiten your knuckles with unbearable tension, or choke with emotion. He is the master.'' -- Irish Times ''The best historical novels ever written.'' -- New York Times Book Review ''Few, very few, books have made my heart thud with excitement. H.M.S. Surprise managed it . . . Patrick O'Brian's erudition is phenomenal, as is his capacity for creating another completely believable world. He convinces with his total accuracy even in tiny details.'' -- Irish Press ''O'Brian is astonishingly good.'' -- Times (London) ''They're funny, they're exciting, they're informative. There are legions of us who gladly ship out time and time again under Captain Aubrey.'' -- New Yorker ''. . . full of the energy that comes from a writer having struck a vein... Patrick O'Brian is unquestionably the Homer of the Napoleonic wars.'' --James Hamilton-Paterson ''You are in for the treat of your lives. Thank God for Patrick O'Brian: his genius illuminates the literature of the English language, and lightens the lives of those who read him.'' -- Irish Times ''Few, very few, books have made my heart thump with excitement. H.M.S. Surprise managed it. [O'Brian's] erudition is phenomenal, as is his capacity for creating another completely believable world. I might have given a better idea of this book if I had simply written 600 times the word 'superb'.'' -- Irish Times ''As sinewy, and virile as its predecessors, this is a copper-bottomed investment for the numerous fans of Jack Aubrey . . . we sail breathlessly through perilous seas to the Far East. Vivid and authentic as is Mr O'Brian's mastery of period and life at sea, it is in his creation of characters that he excels.'' Daily Telegraph ''It has been said that this series is some of the finest historical fiction of our time . . . Aubrey and Maturin have been described as better than Holmes and Watson, the equal of Quixote and Panza . . . All this is true. And the marvel is, it hardly says enough.'' -- Los Angeles Times ''Earphones Awards winner [audiobook narrator] Simon Vance juggles multiple characters, accents, and dramatic and comedic scenes with aplomb . . . Vance's warm, welcoming voice captures colorful characters, entertaining relationships . . . Readers in search of a handful of excellent companions with whom to spend many enjoyable hours will be hail and well met.'' -- AudioFile magazine audiobook review PATRICK O'BRIAN (1914-2000) was born Richard Patrick Russ in England. During the Second World War, he and his wife were involved in British secret-service activities. After the war, he changed his name to Patrick O'Brian and began his career as a novelist, biographer, and translator. He is the author of the acclaimed 'Aubrey-Maturin' tales and the biographer of Joseph Banks and Picasso. In 1995 he was the first recipient of the Heywood Hill Prize for a lifetime's contribution to literature. In the same year he was awarded the CBE. In 1997 he received an honorary doctorate of letters from Trinity College, Dublin.