Hornblower is a very junior captain commanding a small frigate assigned to blockade Brest. His shallow draft ship operates deep into the mouth of the outer harbor. At the beginning of the book Hornblower marries Maria, and is interrupted by Admiral Cornwallis with orders to watch over Brest. At the end of many adventures Cornwallis, at the end of his command, uses his traditional power of promotion to make Hornblower a post captain. The Folio volume includes about 70 pages of the unfinished novel "Hornblower in the Crisis". The events of that fragment occur immediately following the story of the Hotspur
Hotspur was the last Hornblower book that Forester wrote, it was published in 1962, and I probably read one of the first paperback editions. I think it was the second book I read about Hornblower, and remains a favorite ( )

The first Hornblower novel I read. I loved the series: action, romance, etc. I read a few others too. ( )

What I liked about the book:

The character of hornblower: is quite interesting as adventure heroes go. I found myself reflecting from time to time on his extreme and sometimes bipolar characteristics.

Naval manuevers: to the extent a land lubber like me could appreciate this sort of thing I found his descriptions of naval manuevers and Hornblowers ingenuity to be very engaging, page-turny sort of stuff. I recently read "The Perfect Storm" and some of the maritime concepts seemed to carry over (which I guess is a good thing given that previous book is roughly nonfiction).

What I thought could have been improved:

I would have appreciated a glossary of naval terms and explanations of certain maritime assumptions, as a lot of stuff is taken for granted. I tended to dip into wikipedia a bit as I read which certainly enhanced my enjoyment of the material.

Overall: Slow sea battles are made gripping by the well executed writing. ( )

Justo después de casarse, Hornblower se hace de nuevo a la mar para intervenir en el bloqueo de la costa francesa y recabar información de los movimientos de la flota napoleónica. Además, tiene la orden no escrita de no hacer nada para evitar un conflicto con Francia que desemboque en una guerra declarada. El Canal de la Mancha es un escenario de lo más apropiado para que Hornblower muestre su pericia como marino, sobre todo en las maniobras nocturnas, pero además tiene ocasión de hacer gala de su talento militar y de sus innatas dotes para intervenir en misiones secretas. Una novela que combina a la perfección las escenas bélicas con una apasionante trama de espionaje militar.

A compelling voyage on the Hotspur with Captain Hornblower at your side, what fun! ( )