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Jack Aubrey

Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian

Master and Commander (1970)

Post Captain (1972)

HMS Surprise (1973)

Mauritius Command (1977)

(called The Mauritius Command in the USA)

Desolation Island (1978)

The Fortune of War (1979)

The Surgeon's Mate (1980)

The Ionian Mission (1981)

Treason's Harbour (1983)

The Far Side of the World (1984)

The Reverse of the Medal (1986)

The Letter of Marque (1988)

The Thirteen-Gun Salute (1989)

The Nutmeg of Consolation (1991)

Clarissa Oakes (1993)

(called The Truelove in the USA)

The Wine-Dark Sea (1993)

The Commodore (1995)

The Yellow Admiral (1996)

The Hundred Days (1998)

Blue at the Mizzen (1999)

21 (2004)

The Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of 20 historical novels by Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centering on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and physician, naturalist and spy Stephen Maturin.

The 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, starring Russell Crowe as Aubrey, is based on books in this series, notably Master and Commander, HMS Surprise, and The Far Side of the World.

Characters

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

The series portrays the rise of Jack Aubrey from Commander to Admiral in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Many of his exploits and reverses are based on the chequered career of Thomas Cochrane. Aubrey is played by Russell Crowe in the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

Aubrey's friend Stephen Maturin is an Irish-Catalan physician, naturalist and spy. In his role as a naturalist he is based on Sir Joseph Banks. A recurring theme is his long pursuit of Diana Villiers. Maturin is played by Paul Bettany in the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

See also

• Frederick Marryat, 19th century a pioneer of the nautical novel, and a real-life successful naval officer in the time of the Aubrey–Maturin series.
• C. S. Forester, 20th century novelist whose Horatio Hornblower series in many ways prefigured O'Brian's sea tales.
• Thomas Cochrane, dashing and controversial captain in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars whose exploits and reverses inspired many events in the fictional careers of both Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower.