Sword of Honor by Alexander Kent

Genre: Nautical Fiction, Historical Fiction

Setting: In England and on board a British Navy vessel.

First sentence:  Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Bethune put down his pen and waited for the elderly Admiralty clerk to gather up the letters and dispatches he has signed.

This novel is the twenty-third in the author's Richard Bolitho series.  The series currently runs to thirty books.

It is 1814.  The war with Bonaparte and France is over.  Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho has recently returned from his duty commanding the British squadron patrolling the American coast.

Now, he has been ordered to Malta to command the British fleet in the Mediterranean.

In their excitement at winning the war, the Admiralty is quickly downsizing the size of the fleet.

The Admiralty believes that the only enemy left in the Mediterranean are Muslim traders.

Bolitho is well aware that, no matter what the truth of the situation, it will be left to the lowly sailors to fight and die to defend their country.

I liked this book.  The author has an easy to read style that makes the pages fly by.

Once again, I encourage readers to read the books in order.  Doing so will enable the reader to follow Bolitho's life from midshipman to Admiral.


                                                     

The Cross of St. George by Alexander Kent

Genre: Historical Fiction, Nautical Fiction

Setting: 1913, At sea in the Atlantic Ocean

First Sentence: The Royal Dockyard at Portsmouth, usually a place of noise and constant movement, was quiet as the grave.

This novel is the twenty-second  book in the author's "Richard Bolitho" series which currently runs to thirty volumes.

The war with France, after lasting about twenty years, will soon be over.  The war with the United States is costing many British and American sailors' lives.  Soon Britain will be at peace for the first time in a generation.

Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho can sense the end of hostilities.  In his heart he begins to question the need for more bloodshed.

Why should more sailors die just to win a battle in the middle of the ocean?

What will happen to the Navy sailors when their services are no longer needed?

Already there are many disabled sailors forced to beg for a living.  And there is a generation of men who only know life as it is lived upon a British man-o-war.

Duty requires that Bolitho's squadron attack and destroy American Navy vessels on the high seas.  Yet, Bolitho understands that there is no honor in paying a large butcher's bill just to win a relatively meaningless victory.

I liked this book.  In Bolitho the author has created a realistic character.  Bolitho has attained high rank, yet he still struggles to balance duty and honor.

I suggest that you read the books in this series in order.