Category: Classics

Lifespan: (August 27, 1899 – April 2, 1966)

Interesting & Unique Facts: Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith.
He is most famous for writing the Horatio Hornblower series, about naval warfare during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen. Two of Forester's novels, A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours (both Hornblower novels), were jointly awarded the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.

There are many parallels between Hornblower and real naval officers of the period, especially Thomas Cochrane and Horatio Nelson. The name "Horatio" was inspired by the character in William Shakespeare's Hamlet and chosen also because of its association with contemporary figures such as Nelson.

Author's work in order (with chronological or publication dates):

The Horatio Hornblower Series (Chronological Order for Series Events)

• Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (June 1794-March 1798)
• Lieutenant Hornblower (May 1800-March 1803)
• Hornblower & the Hotpsur (April 1803-July 1805)
• Hornblower During the Crisis (August 1805-December 1805)
• Hornblower and the Atropos (December 1805-January 1808)
• Beat to Quarters (June 1808-October 1808)
• Ship of the Line (May 1810-October 1810)
• Flying Colors (November 1810-June 1811)
• Commodore Hornblower (May 1812-October 1812)
• Lord Hornblower (October 1813-May 1814)
• Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies (May 1821-October 1823)

The Horatio Hornblower Series (Publication Order)

• Beat to Quarters (1937) [also published as The Happy Return]
• Ship of the Line (1938) [also published as A Ship of the Line]
• Flying Colors (1938) [also spelt Flying Colours in the UK]
• The Commodore (1945) [also published as Commodore Hornblower]
• Lord Hornblower (1946)
• Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (1950) [collection of short stories]
• Lieutenant Hornblower (1952)
• Hornblower & the Atropos (1953)
• Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies (1958) [also published as Hornblower in the West Indies]
• Hornblower & the (1962)
• Hornblower & the Crisis (1967) [unfinished novel and short stories, as published as Hornblower During the Crisis]

Non-Series Novels

• The Paid Piper (1924)
• A Pawn Among Kings (1924)
• Payment Deferred (1926)
• Victor Emmanuel II (1927)
• Love Dies Dreaming (1927)
• The Wonderful Week (1927)
• The Shadow of the Hawk (1928)
• Brown On Resolution (1929)
• Plain Murder (1930)
• Two-and-Twenty (1931)
• U 97 (1931)
• Death to the French (1932)
• The Gun (1933)
• The Peacemaker (1934)
• The African Queen (1935)
• The General (1936)
• Marionettes at Home (1936)
• The Earthly Paradise (1940)
• The Captain from Connecticut (1941)
• Poo-poo and the Dragons (1942)
• The Ship (1943)
• The Sky and the Forest (1948)
• Randall and the River of Time (1950)
• The Good Shepherd (1955)
• The Barbary Pirates (1956)
• Hunting the Bismarck (1959)
• Gold From Crete (1970)

Short Stories

• The Turn of the Tide (1934)
• The Head and the Feet (1945)
• The Man Who Didn't Ask Why (1957)
• Between Eight and Eight (1965)
• Gold from Crete (1970)