The Naval Adventures of Alan Lewrie, by Dewey Lambdin

I am a lover of books. Among the books I love the most to read, are historical novels. Master & Commander, Sword Song, Masters of Rome, and more, are among my favorites.

And to me, there is hardly anything more romantic, intriguing, exotic and interesting then a great naval novel, of course about the British navy during the era of sail. To read about the careers of naval commanders, the battles, the political intrigue, the ships and crews. It is in a class of its own as reading. Not necessarily always great literature, but often - in the hands of a good author - great reading and lots of joy! And while he may not be a C.S. Forester or a Patrick O'Brian, Dewey Lambdin is a good writer, perhaps better than for example Dudley Pope and Alexander Kent!

And the series entitled The Naval Adventures of Alan Lewrie by Dewey Lambdin is just that. Great, joyful reading.

The Young Alan Lewie

The series, which is published in chronological order (14 books so far), starts with The Kings Coat. This is a book about the young Alan Lewrie, who is brash, somewhat rebellious, and quite a libertine. Seventeen years old he is forced to go to sea as a midshipman in the tall-masted ship-of-the-line Ariadne. Basically his father wants him removed from the scene so that he can spend Alan's inheritance himself. This is a relatively "noir" but very realistic and entertaining story.

In the English navy the young Alan Lewrie is to learn the ways of the navy or die. In the second book, The French Admiral, we find him on a new ship, HMS Desparate. And, against all odds, and to his own amazement, he finds that he is slowly winning the respect of other sailors. Fighting in America, during the War of Independence, he is starting to learn and he show courage and smartness. As well, he likes what he is doing, feels that he is getting good at it, and his committment to life at sea and in the Royal Navy becomes a fact he has to deal with.

Lieutenant Alen Lewrie

The next two books, taking place in 1782 and 1783, are The King's Commission and The King's Privateer. Contrary to some of the other naval heroes of the historical fiction sagas, Alan Lewrie lacks strong mentors promoting his career, and is not promoted quite as fast as, for example, Horatio Hornblower and Richard Bolitho.

In these books, Lewrie is also introduced to and used by spies acting on behalf of the Crown, and drawn into mysterious intrigues and battles that are hard to comprehend for the young sea officer - maybe especially a rouge and a ladies man - of a more geopolitical nature. Alan Lewrie's mostly involuntary affiliation with the guys doing the cloak and dagger work of the Crown is an interesting twist to the tale, much as the association of the mysterious Dr. Maturin in the Master & Commander-series with the same elements (Maturin volunteers, though).

Link to order books in the Alan Lewrie series by Dewey Lambdin at amazon UK: Dewey Lambdin (Alan Lewrie). Link to amazon US: Dewey Lambdin. Link to amazon CAN: Dewey Lambdin.

The young captain

In HMS Cockerel, Lambdin does a wonderful job weaving together history and fiction. Alan Lewrie works to get a leg over on Emma Hamilton, and comes face to face with the rising star in France, Napoleon, as well as the infamous Captain Bligh. Not a small feat!

This is not my favorite in the series, as Lewrie spend too much time on shore for my taste, but it still is an interesting and good book (This book is out of print for the moment, and very expensive to buy used).

A King's Commander takes place in 1793 and Alan Lewrie has now advanced and is commander of HMS Jester. She is an 18-gun sloop. As always, Lewrie is spoiling for adventure, and sails into Corsica to receive astonishing orders from his squadron commander, Horatio Nelson: He is to lure his archenemy, French commander Guillaume Choundas, into battle and strike the French spy master dead!

HMS Jester is also the ship in the next novel in the series, Jester's Fortune. Here, Alan Lewrie and his 18-gun sloop are part of a squadron of four British warships in Adriatic Sea. Britain's forces being stretched thin, the British squadron commander strikes a devil's bargain and enlists the aid of Serbian pirates. Their assistance turns out to very costly.

Alan Lewrie, the Post Captain

In King's Captain and Sea of Grey, we meet Alan Lewrie, or Ram-Cat as he is often called, as a Captain of the Royal Navy, with his own ship of the line. Lewrie has - as it is his habit to do - impressed with his bravery. This time in the Battle at Cape St. Vincent, one of the most famous naval engagements in naval history.

However, upon taking over his new ship, Lewrie is faces with a naval wide mutiny. He longs for command of HMS Proteus, but must first win over an old enemy and take back his ship. Eventually, of course, he does, and in Sea of Grey we find him back in the thick of the action in the Caribbean, with ample opportunity to fire his beloved artillery pieces at enemy ships as well as on the slave army of Toussaint L'Overeture. And again Lewrie is being used by the Crown's spies in their strange games. As well, we meet in this book the newly revived United States Navy!

In Havoc's Sword, it is 1798, and Lewrie and the crew of his frigate Proteus are still in the Caribbean, as he also is in The Captain's Vengeance. Lewrie has rashly vowed to uphold a friend's honor in a duel to the death. Also, he is again confronted with the brutal and cunning French commander Guillaume Choudas

In The Captain's Vengeance, Alan Lewrie is up against some of the worst pirates he has ever encountered after a prize ship he has captured is stolen while in harbor. He chases the pirates all over creation; from Hispaniola to Barbados, and far down the Antilles. As well, he is sent on a covert mission up the Mississippi in enemy-held Spanish Louisiana to the romantic New Orleans in search of pirates and prize.

In A King's Trade, Alan Lewrie meet trouble of many types. He is now in hot water for "liberating" a dozen slaves from their Caribbean plantation and putting them to work on his ship, the HMS Proteus. He learns that “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished”. Then Zachariah Twigg of the Foreign Office, one of the spies who has often used him for dangerous missions, suggests a scheme that might save his career: recasting the incorrigible captain as an abolitionist hero. And sends him to sea, reckoning that he will be a more sellable hero at a distance. But Lewrie can get into trouble at sea as well! And even being his bestest self, he does!

Troubled Waters takes place in the Spring of 1800. Captain Alan Lewrie is fresh from victory in the South Atlantic, and he is reckoned a hero on par with Nelson in all the newspapers. And back in England, he’s fitting out his new frigate, HMS Savage, the fruits of that victory. She is the largest and best-armed frigate he’s ever commanded. But again trouble is brewing, as it always is when Lewrie is on shore. The Beauman family has filed a lawsuit in Jamaica, and Alan Lewrie has been found guilty. Now he finds himself sentenced to death!

The Baltic Gambit, by Dewey Lambdin

Even so, the book is somewhat slow in picking up. Lewrie stays on land for the first 200 pages. In the Admiralty, when asking for a ship, he is even told in no uncertain terms that he shouldn’t count on ever commanding a ship again. Life is not very good to Lewrie! But finally, after a change of leadership in the Admiralty, he gets his ship, the frigate HMS Thermopylae. And now action soon moves to the Baltic area. As so many times before, the naval mission is yet again combined with a diplomatic task, and once again set up by his shadowy mentor, Zachariah Twigg.

The mission assigned to him is to transport two wily Russian noblemen from England to Russia. The purpose of the mission is to try to convince the Russian Czar to not enter into a state of armed neutrality aimed at Britain. As well, Alan Lewrie gets to meet Admiral Nelson and take part in the Copenhagen battle!

The Baltic Gambit is a new great book from Lambdin – very interesting! My only complaint is that there is too little naval action.

Links to order books in the Alan Lewrie series by Dewey Lambdin at amazon UK: Dewey Lambdin (Alan Lewrie). Link to amazon US: Dewey Lambdin. Link to amazon CAN: Dewey Lambdin.