A series of episodes in the early life of Captain Hornblower.

As commander-in-chief of His Majesty's ships and vessels in the West Indies, Admiral Hornblower faces pirates, revolutionaries, and a blistering hurricane in the chaotic aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars.

These thrilling tales of high-seas adventure in the Napoleonic era, which Winston Churchill found "vastly enteratining" and Ernest Hemingway recommended to "every literate I know", are being eagerly embraced by a new generation of readers. Back Bay takes pleasure in reissuing these classic tales in handsome new trade paperback editions.

After only one night with his bride, Hornblower, as commander of the frigate Hotspur, sails for duty off the French Coast to keep Napoleon from invading England.

His cool judgment under fire shows that young Hornblower is maturing as he repeatedly defeats the Spanish warships.