Midshipman Quinn

Midshipman Quinn #1

by Showell Styles

Excellent Book

Genres: Adventure

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

Aka Glyn Carr

Frank Showell Styles was a Welsh writer and mountaineer.

Showell Styles was born in Four Oaks, Birmingham and was educated at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, Sutton Coldfield. Known to his friends as 'Pip', Showell Styles' childhood was spent in the hills of North Wales where he became an avid mountaineer and explorer. During the Second World War, Styles joined the Royal Navy and was posted in the Mediterranean, but even there he walked and climbed as much as he could.

An aspiring writer, Styles already had articles published in Punch, before setting out to make his living as an author. His first novel, Traitor’s Mountain, was a murder mystery set on and around Tryfan in Wales. He became a prolific writer with over 160 books published for children as well as adults. In addition to historic naval adventure fiction such as the Midshipman Quinn and Lieutenant Michael Fitton series set during the Napoleonic Wars, and non-fiction works on mountains and such as The Mountaineer’s Weekend Book, he wrote detective fiction under the pseudonym of Glyn Carr, and humorous pieces as C.L. Inker.

For walkers visiting Snowdonia for the first time, Styles' The Mountains of North Wales is monumentally inspirational, written by a sure hand and with a firm conviction and love of these mountains.

Reviews

[Alan Cotterell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of a trip back in time with this one. Found this lurking on the bookshelf when sorting out recently.

I first read this about 40 odd years ago, when I used to read a book a night as a minimum. I used to think that Midshipman Quinn was the best thing ever, apart from maybe "The Saint"series by Leslie Charteris. Reading this book again, a lot older, maybe a bit wiser! I can see that Quinn’s exploits are over the top, quite often preposterous. A midshipman would not really have gotten away with most of his actions. But who cares when you are a teenager?

At times he was aggravating, over confident and occasionally a little pretentious. But, the sea-battles themselves seemed to be historically accurate, and so can be forgiven.
Midshipman Quinn is a swashbuckling nautical adventure, that has some seafaring accuracy and a lot of escapism for teenagers of all ages.

[Sumant Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book gifted to me by my best friend. Read it many times

[Bernadette · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was a bit younger, I thought Midshipman Quinn was the best thing ever. Reading these books again, slightly older, I can see that Quinn’s exploits are often preposterous and over-the-top, not the sort of thing a midshipman would really have gotten away with. He can be aggravating at times, a little pretentious and more than a little self-confident.

Still, the sea-battles themselves are historically accurate, and Quinn can be forgiven. I thoroughly enjoy Midshipman Quinn for exactly what it is: a swashbuckling nautical adventure, adhering to basic seafaring accuracy and exchanging the rest for greater adventure.

[RhC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you want to open up the world of literature to a boy before he hits puberty? I suggest the Midshipman Quinn series.

Ostensibly tickling the imagination of any boy, the writing is engaging, non-patronizing, and stands the test of time. In fact, I would proffer that the adventures stimulate the little boy in all of us and, as such, sharing the series is an ideal activity for father and son bonding.