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quintusslide 's review for:

Hornblower and the Hotspur by C.S. Forester
5.0

When I read the Hornblower novels, I am twelve years old. Odd that, because when I actually *was* twelve years old, I avoided these novels. I thought they were for mere children, and I found the nautical terminology perplexing.

The benefit of a pleasure so mistakenly deferred is that you get to experience it when you are prepared to appreciate it in all its splendor. With the added benefit that I now have the internet to find out what commands like "Helms alee!" and terms like binnacle and capstan mean. 

These novels do what historical fiction should; while remaining very true to the history of the era, they transplant you to a British ship of the line during the Napoleonic wars and make you appreciate what daily life on such a vessel must have been like.

This novel, like the two earlier in the series, is good enough to read twice.