[AnAmericanMother]

My problem with the Hornblower series (although they are jolly good reads!) is that Forrester makes Hornblower a 20th century man, with 20th century angst, set adrift in the early 19th century. While to external observation he appears to be a child of the Georgian era, internally he's a walking anachronism, expressing himself in 20th century terms. He sounds like Freud when he ought to sound like Samuel Johnson.

For REAL contemporary British sea adventure in the days of sail, read anything by Captain Frederick Marryat: "The King's Own", "Mr. Midshipman Easy", "Masterman Ready". My personal favorite is "Mr. Midshipman Easy". . . . no question there but that Capt. Marryat is a dyed in the wool conservative of the old school! Jack Easy's father is a liberal, and he is shown up for the fool he is (and dies a horrible death but not much lamented). Capt. Marryat sailed with the REAL model for Hornblower - Lord Cochrane and survived 50 sea battles. When he describes a battle it's for real!

[BradyLS]

So you're saying these were written in the 1800's? Where do you find them? I'll have to check those out.