Hornblower

Eleven novels written so far out of order that the first book in the story is the sixth one written, and the last one written was left unfinished in the middle.

0%
complete

Where to start with Hornblower

Read in story order, and start with Mr Midshipman Hornblower. That sounds obvious and it is the opposite of the usual advice for a series written out of order, so it is worth saying why. Forester wrote the middle of the man's life first, in 1937, and only went back thirteen years later to write his youth. Unlike Sharpe, where the late prequels assume you already love the character, Forester's Midshipman was written deliberately as a beginning, and it works as one.

  1. 1
    Mr Midshipman Hornblower Mr Midshipman Hornblower

    First in the story and the best way in. Ten linked episodes covering 1793 to 1797, a seventeen year old who is seasick, friendless and close to suicide in the opening pages, and a book written specifically to explain where the man in the earlier novels came from.

  2. 2
    The Happy Return, if you want it the way 1937 got it The Happy Return

    The first novel Forester wrote and the sixth in the story. Published in the United States as Beat to Quarters, which is why you will find the same book under two names. It drops you in mid-career with no introduction, exactly as its original readers got it, and that is either the appeal or the problem.

  3. 3
    The Even Chance, from 1998, if you want the screen version Hornblower: The Even Chance

    Eight feature length films with Ioan Gruffudd, and the one adaptation people actually remember. Watch them in broadcast order. They cover only the first three novels, so finishing them leaves eight books still ahead of you.

  4. 4
    Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N., from 1951, for the curiosity Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.

    Gregory Peck, made while Forester was still writing the series, compressing three novels into two hours. It is not where to start, but it is the only place to see the middle books on screen at all.

Then what? Publication order is the real alternative and it has serious defenders, because you watch a writer discover his own character in real time and because the 1937 to 1946 books are tighter than the later ones. What it costs you is that the story opens in 1808 with a captain nobody has introduced, jumps back fifteen years thirteen books later, and puts the unfinished one at the very end. There is also a hybrid that a lot of readers land on: the original trilogy first, The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours, then go back to Midshipman and run the chronology straight through. Two practical notes. Hornblower During the Crisis is unfinished, ends mid-story and comes with Forester's notes for how it would have gone, so some readers skip it and lose nothing. And several books have two titles: The Happy Return is Beat to Quarters in the United States, The Commodore is Commodore Hornblower, and Hornblower in the West Indies is Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies.

A suggested way in, not an official one. The full list is below: tick anything off in either place.

0titles watched
0episodes checked
0left to watch
up next

The novels

  • Mr Midshipman Hornblower 1950
  • Lieutenant Hornblower 1952
  • Hornblower and the Hotspur 1962
  • Hornblower During the Crisis 1967
  • Hornblower and the Atropos 1953
  • The Happy Return 1937
  • A Ship of the Line 1938
  • Flying Colours 1938
  • The Commodore 1945
  • Lord Hornblower 1946
  • Hornblower in the West Indies 1958

The companion

  • The Hornblower Companion 1964

The television films

  • Hornblower: The Even Chance 1998
  • Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant 1998
  • Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil 1999
  • Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters 1999
  • Hornblower: Mutiny 2001
  • Hornblower: Retribution 2001
  • Hornblower: Loyalty 2003
  • Hornblower: Duty 2003

The 1951 film

  • Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. 1951

Sync & backup

Your progress is saved on this device automatically. The code below takes a copy out and puts it back. Moving a whole list onto a device that has nothing on it yet is part of the subscription.

The code holds only this franchise. The link opens the tracker with your progress already filled in, good for showing someone where you're at. The image is a picture you can keep anywhere: scan the code on it with a phone, or drag the file back in below.

Every franchise you have touched, in one code.

Scan it with another device's camera, or paste the code in below. It never leaves your browser.

Drag a SagaList image here, or .

This reads the progress stored inside the picture, so nothing has to be retyped. If the image has been through a messaging app it may have been re-encoded and lost that: scan the code on it instead, or copy the code printed along the bottom.

Takes either kind of code. A single franchise code replaces that franchise, on any device. An everything code merges by default, so nothing you have ticked on this device is lost. Putting a whole list onto a device that has nothing on it yet is the part an account pays for.

Read only. This never changes what you have saved, and nothing leaves your browser. The code has to be their code for this same franchise: codes do not carry a name, so one from somewhere else may not be recognised as wrong.