Horatio Hornblower

Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the Royal Navy, created by C.S. Forester.

Forester wrote over a dozen nautical works. But the Horatio Hornblower novels were his only series.

The first novel Forester wrote about Hornblower was published under the somewhat ironic title The Happy Return. And took place in the Pacific Ocean, complicated by Spain switching from being allied to Napoleon Bonaparte's France, to being an ally of the United Kingdom.

The next four novels: A Ship of the Line; Flying Colours; Commodore Hornblower; and Lord Hornblower, were written chronologically. Lord Hornblower ends with Hornblower learning that Bonaparte has had his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo. An additional five novels were written out of order: Mr Midshipman Hornblower; Lieutenant Hornblower; Hornblower and the Crisis; Hornblower and the Hotspur; Hornblower and the Atropos; and Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies.