Alexander Kent’s series about Richard Bolitho
By Peter on Apr 16, 2009 in About authors, Alexander Kent, Historical Fiction, The World of Books, bestseller
There is simply, to me, nothing like great naval fiction to sit down with and have a truly wonderful and enjoyable reading time. The sea story is one of the most enduring and enjoyable staples in popular literature. Tales of stout men under sail, with blasting cannon hurling iron across the water at one another, were absolute dynamite when Frederick Marryat held a huge readership wired to their seats in the early 19th century with his stories about Midshipman Easy.
Richard Bolitho novels
(written by Douglas Edward Reeman under the name Alexander Kent)
- To Glory We Steer (1968) (7th in plot sequence)
- Form Line of Battle! (1969) (11th)
- Enemy In Sight! (1970) (12th)
- Flag Captain (1971) (13th)
- Sloop Of War (1972) (6th)
- Command a King’s Ship (1973) (8th)
- Signal – Close Action! (1974) (14th)
- Richard Bolitho, Midshipman (1975) (1st)
- Passage To Mutiny (1976) (9th)
- In Gallant Company (1977) (5th)
- The Inshore Squadron (1977) (15th)
- Midshipman Bolitho and the ‘Avenger’ (1978) (2nd)
- Stand Into Danger (1980) (4th)
- A Tradition Of Victory (1981) (16th)
- Success to the Brave (1983)(17th)
- Colours Aloft (1986)(18th)
- Honour This Day (1987(19th)
- With All Despatch (1988) (10th)
- The Only Victor (1990) (20th)
- Beyond The Reef (1992) (21st)
- The Darkening Sea (1993) (22nd)
- For My Country’s Freedom (1995) (23rd)
- Cross Of St. George (1996) (24th)
- Sword of Honour (1998) (25th)
- Second to None (1999) (26th)
- Relentless Pursuit (2001) (27th)
- Man of War (2003) (28th)
- Band of Brothers (2006) (3rd)
- Heart of Oak (2007) (29th)
Since then we’ve had Patrick O’Brian with his marvelous series about Captain Aubrey and his particular friend doctor Maturin. And, perhaps even better, The Horatio Hornblower novels of C.S. Forester that were among the most genuinely satisfying novels of the last forty years. More recently, Dewey Lambdin with his stunning series about Alan Lewrie, and Alexander Kent with the series about Richard Bolitho both follow in the footsteps of these giants of naval fiction. Basically, there are patrolling the same sea lanes, to some extent fighting the same battles, but the stories are there to be told over and over again. And, what is more, they are equally entertaining every time, when retold by great storytellers!
Alexander Kent’s winning, interesting and attractive hero is Richard Bolitho, who is squarely in the tradition of Captain Hornblower, Alan Lewrie, and Midshipman Easy. All of the heroic elements are here. This is simply great, solid stuff that still packs a wallop and will probably continue to do so when another writer comes along 30 years from now to tell the old stories again to a new generation.
Richard Bolito is man-wise, humane, decisive and courageous. All the briny echoes of fictional marine heroes can be heard again in these rip-rousing tales of naval warfare as the stalwart Bolitho gains the trust of his crew and admiration of his superiors. A wonderful series for readers who, like me, wants adventure and grand tales!
Read more about the Richard Bolitho series at leserglede!
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