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Brown on Resolution
For all his young life Albert Brown had known that he was to join the Navy, and the beginning of the First World War finds him a Leading Seaman. Alone on the barren island of Resolution in the South Pacific, he fights against the might of a German battleship. This is the first of C.S.Forester's novels about the sea.
155 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1929
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About the author
C.S. Forester
234 books970 followersCecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith, an English novelist who rose to fame with tales of adventure and military crusades. His most notable works were the 11-book Horatio Hornblower series, about naval warfare during the Napoleonic era, and The African Queen (1935; filmed in 1951 by John Huston). His novels A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours were jointly awarded the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
July 3, 2024
3⭐
Ripping yarn of a World War I sea story by C S Forester, of Hornblower fame.
As usual Forester^s description of naval warfare is gripping, and carries the story along. It's premise was a bit unusual for the time; an independent minded upper middle class woman decides to become a single mother and to raise her son with the single intent of his joining the British navy. Which he does and becomes the great unsung hero of the book. It's old fashioned in its praise for English naval glory, not nearly as critical as Forester's other WWI book, The General. But it is, like most of his works, a thinking person's adventure story.
Ripping yarn of a World War I sea story by C S Forester, of Hornblower fame.
As usual Forester^s description of naval warfare is gripping, and carries the story along. It's premise was a bit unusual for the time; an independent minded upper middle class woman decides to become a single mother and to raise her son with the single intent of his joining the British navy. Which he does and becomes the great unsung hero of the book. It's old fashioned in its praise for English naval glory, not nearly as critical as Forester's other WWI book, The General. But it is, like most of his works, a thinking person's adventure story.
July 8, 2019
I am a major fan of the Hornblower books, but this book deals with WWI. Forester is a marvelous writer, no matter the time period. The early part of the book deals with Albert Brown's background so it isn't as interesting, but his single-handed battle with the ZEITHEN is. He is as single-minded as his mother was, and twice as deadly. It may be an early Forester, but it shows the promise that will be fulfilled.
January 5, 2022
I think Brown On Resolution is a little masterpiece. Not everyone will agree because it is a mixture of character study, a bit of social history and war story so it doesn’t readily fit a genre. Also, it’s getting on for 100 years old now so some of the prose may seem a bit dated to some modern ears, but I think it reads very well. It is beautifully crafted, it’s a superb piece of storytelling and it has left a mark on me for well over 40 years since I first read it. To me, it seems to have aged very well.
This is the story of Albert Brown, but it begins with his mother. Forester gives us in some detail her circumstances in the late 19th Century, the affair which leads to Brown’s birth and the origin of her devotion to the Navy. All this is relevant to Brown’s character and subsequent actions, and although the story doesn’t really switch to him until nearly half way through the book, I found it fascinating social history and a rather penetrating character analysis.
The latter part of the book sees Brown in the Navy during the First World War, eventually on the waterless and deserted Resolution Island in the Galapagos, where a German cruiser has taken refuge to repair damage. It becomes the story of one man doing his duty against the enemy no matter what the cost, and of the profound consequences seemingly small actions may have. This is a theme which occurred more than once in Forester’s subsequent books – especially Hornblower – and he paints the picture brilliantly. He also has a profound understanding of tactics and of how terrain, weather and so on may play a vital role in determining what is and is not feasible.
The book is only about 150 pages long, but says more and had more impact on me than amny books of twice the length and more. Brown On Resolution is well worth a try; not everyone will like it but if you do find it’s for you, you’ll never forget it.
This is the story of Albert Brown, but it begins with his mother. Forester gives us in some detail her circumstances in the late 19th Century, the affair which leads to Brown’s birth and the origin of her devotion to the Navy. All this is relevant to Brown’s character and subsequent actions, and although the story doesn’t really switch to him until nearly half way through the book, I found it fascinating social history and a rather penetrating character analysis.
The latter part of the book sees Brown in the Navy during the First World War, eventually on the waterless and deserted Resolution Island in the Galapagos, where a German cruiser has taken refuge to repair damage. It becomes the story of one man doing his duty against the enemy no matter what the cost, and of the profound consequences seemingly small actions may have. This is a theme which occurred more than once in Forester’s subsequent books – especially Hornblower – and he paints the picture brilliantly. He also has a profound understanding of tactics and of how terrain, weather and so on may play a vital role in determining what is and is not feasible.
The book is only about 150 pages long, but says more and had more impact on me than amny books of twice the length and more. Brown On Resolution is well worth a try; not everyone will like it but if you do find it’s for you, you’ll never forget it.
April 29, 2014
After a somewhat slower start that most Forester novels, this book picked-up to become a fascinating read. Discovering the motivations of Forester's characters is often the most interesting part of the reading for me, and Brown on Resolution was no different. Brown was simply a sailor who did his duty, regardless of the consequences to himself. He knew that he would likely die on that island, and he didn't really seem to care. He had the stubbornness and strength of his mother, and, while he didn't seem to share her love of the British Royal Navy, he was as dedicated to serving in it as she wanted him to be. It was refreshing to read a book set in the Pacific which portrayed the area as something other than the lush, tropical paradise of so many other novels. Forester's choice of the Galapagos Islands created an even more interesting setting than palm tree-covered islands - indeed the island made it possible for Brown to do what he did. The naval campaign in the Pacific is an almost forgotten part of World War I, but it is one of the most fascinating of the war. It was interesting to see the effect that Saville-Samarez's son (whom he never even knew about) had on his own career.
This book was certainly not as good as the Hornblower series or Rifleman Dodd, in my opinion, but it was still an excellent read. It is also a testament that one brave person really can make a big difference, even if it is never noticed by others.
This book was certainly not as good as the Hornblower series or Rifleman Dodd, in my opinion, but it was still an excellent read. It is also a testament that one brave person really can make a big difference, even if it is never noticed by others.
February 10, 2015
في حياة أخرى ستعيشها تلك الرواية التي كُتبت عام 1929 ستتحول فيها إلى لعبة يمكن تنزيلها عبر الآب ستورز، وستكون لعبة شيّقة تحبس الأنفاس، وسألعبها وبعد المقدمات المعتادة ستبدأ اللعبة!، وإذا بي على تل مرتفع على جزيرة مهجورة ما، وأرى بارجة الأعداء من تحتي من مسافة بعيدة، وهي ماكثة بالأسفل لتصليح عطل صغير ألمّ بها، قبل الإبحار مرة أخرى، وحولي صخرتين تحجب رؤيتهم لي وتسمح لي بفرجة صغيرة بينهما أستطيع أن أصوّب منها، وهناك الكثير من المتعرجات والنباتات الشوكية على طول الطريق بين سفح الجزيرة والقمة التي أنا في أعلاها، وجميع مؤشرات الصحّة والحيوية والذخيرة في أعلى مستواياتها، فأنا ما زالت في المستوى الأول!، وسأصوّب البندقية وسأحصد أربعة من رجال العدو بينهم كبير مهندسي السفينة الذي كان يصلح العطل، قبل أن تختفي الحركة أمامي على الفور ولا أرى ظلاً لشخص آخر!، وعند هذه اللحظة أكون قد أتممت المستوى الأول بنجاح، وانتقل إلى الثاني ليتطور الأمر وقد أرسلت السفينة قارب بخاري يتوجّه إلى سفح الجزيرة تحت أنظاري، ويخرج منه رجال يتقدمون إلى أعلى حيث أستقرّ، ولكن ببطء بسبب الطريق المتعرج والنباتات الشوكية، ولكنني أعيد حشو بندقيتي وأحصدهم حصدًا من موقعي المميّز، إلا من استطاع أن يختبئ أو يعود فارًا إلى القارب البخاري الصغير!، وأرتفع مستوى ثالث ليتزايد العدد، فهناك هذه المرة حوالي مائتي جندي الآن يتقدمون إلى الأعلى، نحوي، وفي خطة جديدة فهم متفرقون على طول سفح الجزيرة في محاولة للتشويش عليَّ، ولكنّي بذلت مجهودًا كبيرًا وأرديت عددًا كبيرًا منهم، إلى أن اختبئوا جميعًا خلف الصخور، ومكثت أرتقب أي حركة فلم أرَ، ثم رأيت أحدهم يمدّ ساقه من خلف صخرة، فأرديته قتيلاً هو الآخر، وعند ذلك ارتفع المستوى إلى المستوى الرابع، فالخامس، فالسادس، فالسابع، وهلم جرًا
وقرأتها في ترجمة عربية قديمة ، في نسخة يملكها خالي منذ صباه، فاسمه الذي خطّه على صفحات الرواية كان بخطّ طفولي ساذج كثيرًا، واستمتعت بها صراحة!، ومَن قال إن الألعاب الإلكترونية اختراع حديث؟!
:D
وقرأتها في ترجمة عربية قديمة ، في نسخة يملكها خالي منذ صباه، فاسمه الذي خطّه على صفحات الرواية كان بخطّ طفولي ساذج كثيرًا، واستمتعت بها صراحة!، ومَن قال إن الألعاب الإلكترونية اختراع حديث؟!
:D
June 25, 2025
I enjoyed this, but not nearly as much as the other C. S. Forester novels I've read. The first third of the book, recounting Albert Brown's early life, could easily have been left out, and I didn't feel added much to the story. As a device to explain his later actions, it was unconvincing. Once he landed on Resolution, things picked up considerably as Albert goes all Rambo First Blood. But even then, the account of his one-man battle against the crew of the Ziethen, like his early life, is a bit unpersuasive. Both Brown's early life, preparing and conditioning him for his eventual death struggle, and his one-man killing spree, aren't quite believable. That is a real shame, as the central plot idea of this is a great one, and I know from his other books that Forester can create credible and emotionally engaging characters.
Still worth a read, but nowhere near the heights of "The Ship" or "The Good Shepherd".
Still worth a read, but nowhere near the heights of "The Ship" or "The Good Shepherd".
March 29, 2022
This is a short story about a captured soldier in WWI during a sea campaign in the Pacific. The German ship he's taken aboard on after his ship is sunk was damaged and careens for repairs on Resolution Island, one of the lesser-known Galapagos isles.
The book feels like Forester visited the island and thought "dang it would suck to climb those" then came up with this little story idea and threw it down on paper. It has a pretty extended introduction and simple story about how one dedicated and determined man can cause a pretty major difference even if they don't know it.
Its somewhat depressing as Forester books go but is a quick pretty good read.
The book feels like Forester visited the island and thought "dang it would suck to climb those" then came up with this little story idea and threw it down on paper. It has a pretty extended introduction and simple story about how one dedicated and determined man can cause a pretty major difference even if they don't know it.
Its somewhat depressing as Forester books go but is a quick pretty good read.
October 12, 2011
Some books move you and each time you pick them up you experience a small part of the visceral emotion that reading it gave you.
This is a book I was deeply moved by. The start of this book is now very dated and to some younger people may seem comical or incomprehensible, but once Brown has begun his final journey I think the story becomes timeless and anyone will be drawn in to it.
To me this is a story of the horror and futility of war, of the quiet unrewarded nature of real bravery, and the power of one man to affect history while remaining anonymous.
Highly recommended.
This is a book I was deeply moved by. The start of this book is now very dated and to some younger people may seem comical or incomprehensible, but once Brown has begun his final journey I think the story becomes timeless and anyone will be drawn in to it.
To me this is a story of the horror and futility of war, of the quiet unrewarded nature of real bravery, and the power of one man to affect history while remaining anonymous.
Highly recommended.
June 4, 2015
Better known for his excellent Hornblower books, C.S. Forester details the account of the WWI defeat of the German cruiser Ziethen in the Pacific Ocean. The captain of the victorious H.M.S. Leopard is totally unaware of the heroic contribution to the victory by Leading Seaman Albert Brown, his son. A great story expertly told.
November 30, 2021
C.S. Forester’s novel was published 1929 and judging from the title you’d be forgiven to think that this concerns a hero on a ship named Resolution. However, the blurb will correct that: Resolution is an uninhabited barren rock in the Galapagos Islands, and it’s 1914, the early days of the First World War.
The entire narrative is from the omniscient point of view. It begins by telling us that Leading Seaman Albert Brown lay dying on Resolution. Not auspicious. Why read on? And yet Forester’s style draws you in; a short two-and-a-half pages for the first chapter. Then Chapter Two takes us ‘more than twenty years earlier’, with a Lieutenant-Commander Saville-Samarez, RN sharing a train carriage with twenty-nine-year-old virginal Agatha Brown, who was leaving her father and siblings for five days sojourn with a family friend in Ealing.
The descriptions throughout are excellent: that morning at breakfast her father, ‘with the newspaper propped up against the marmalade jar he would bring his mouth down to his fork rather than his fork up to his mouth, and he would open the latter alarmingly (which was quite unpleasant when, as was usual, he had not quite swallowed the preceding mouthful) and thrust the fork home and snap down his big moustache upon it… He drank his tea noisily through his moustache…’ (p9)
Thereafter, the pair spent three delirious days in a hotel… and then parted amicably. Agatha gave birth, to the distress of her family, but made the best of it and managed to support herself and her boy Albert, inculcating in him the desire to join the Royal Navy: ‘the sprouting of the grain she was sowing in such seemingly inhospitable soil’(p47). As the years passed, she kept abreast of the latest naval developments, the building programme, and the advancement of a certain officer named Saville-Samarez.
There’s a humorous interlude when Albert’s headmaster courts Agatha, ‘the widow’. Until he reveals his true nature and political beliefs; the man leaves, deciding Mrs Brown is mad.
Sadly, she is assailed with incurable cancer. ‘Agatha’s life went out of her while she floated above a vast grey sea sombrely tinted with silhouettes of battle squadrons, the grey craggy citadels of England’s glory and hope. Their funnel smoke swirled around her, veiling the worried freckled face of the child of her sin, and she smiled happily.’ (p58).
After his mother’s tragic death, Albert fulfilled her ambition for him and following training joined the newly commissioned third-class cruiser Charybdis.
The war began. The Royal Navy was on the lookout for the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. One of the German escort ships was the Ziethen commanded by Captain Von Lutz. Charybdis engaged Ziethen but was sunk. However, Brown survived. The engagement had left the Ziethen seriously damaged and its captain determined to seek refuge anchored in the concealing bay that the island Resolution offered.
Aware that the British fleet were scouring the Pacific, Albert Brown set out to prevent the Germans making Ziethen seaworthy. Then it’s a battle of wits and indomitable courage.
A gripping and at times quite moving account of lives well lived – and sacrificed.
The apparently cold calculating analytical narrative works very well. The omniscient viewpoint was necessary to convey the truth of the story.
The entire narrative is from the omniscient point of view. It begins by telling us that Leading Seaman Albert Brown lay dying on Resolution. Not auspicious. Why read on? And yet Forester’s style draws you in; a short two-and-a-half pages for the first chapter. Then Chapter Two takes us ‘more than twenty years earlier’, with a Lieutenant-Commander Saville-Samarez, RN sharing a train carriage with twenty-nine-year-old virginal Agatha Brown, who was leaving her father and siblings for five days sojourn with a family friend in Ealing.
The descriptions throughout are excellent: that morning at breakfast her father, ‘with the newspaper propped up against the marmalade jar he would bring his mouth down to his fork rather than his fork up to his mouth, and he would open the latter alarmingly (which was quite unpleasant when, as was usual, he had not quite swallowed the preceding mouthful) and thrust the fork home and snap down his big moustache upon it… He drank his tea noisily through his moustache…’ (p9)
Thereafter, the pair spent three delirious days in a hotel… and then parted amicably. Agatha gave birth, to the distress of her family, but made the best of it and managed to support herself and her boy Albert, inculcating in him the desire to join the Royal Navy: ‘the sprouting of the grain she was sowing in such seemingly inhospitable soil’(p47). As the years passed, she kept abreast of the latest naval developments, the building programme, and the advancement of a certain officer named Saville-Samarez.
There’s a humorous interlude when Albert’s headmaster courts Agatha, ‘the widow’. Until he reveals his true nature and political beliefs; the man leaves, deciding Mrs Brown is mad.
Sadly, she is assailed with incurable cancer. ‘Agatha’s life went out of her while she floated above a vast grey sea sombrely tinted with silhouettes of battle squadrons, the grey craggy citadels of England’s glory and hope. Their funnel smoke swirled around her, veiling the worried freckled face of the child of her sin, and she smiled happily.’ (p58).
After his mother’s tragic death, Albert fulfilled her ambition for him and following training joined the newly commissioned third-class cruiser Charybdis.
The war began. The Royal Navy was on the lookout for the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. One of the German escort ships was the Ziethen commanded by Captain Von Lutz. Charybdis engaged Ziethen but was sunk. However, Brown survived. The engagement had left the Ziethen seriously damaged and its captain determined to seek refuge anchored in the concealing bay that the island Resolution offered.
Aware that the British fleet were scouring the Pacific, Albert Brown set out to prevent the Germans making Ziethen seaworthy. Then it’s a battle of wits and indomitable courage.
A gripping and at times quite moving account of lives well lived – and sacrificed.
The apparently cold calculating analytical narrative works very well. The omniscient viewpoint was necessary to convey the truth of the story.
December 28, 2018
It is difficult to determine for whom Forester has written this book. On the one hand, it consists of a tone and storyline that seems to have emerged from some tale in Boy's Own, serving up goodly portions of duty and perseverance and, yes, resolution . But it also has its grisly and, for the time, almost frank sexual passages. And the arrival of its hero, Albert Brown, doesn't occur until almost one-third of the way through this short novel, after spending most of the initial character development on his wayward mother, Agatha. Then, to top it off, Brown's fate is treated almost incidentally, as I guess it would be, if seen as a token effect of battle and the arrival of "ships of iron" during World War I.
What to make of this hero, Brown? It is here that things get interesting. Brown is a creature of duty, a product of training, the compressed yield of hundreds of years of Royal Navy tradition within the empire. He is also a sociopath. Whether a young boy, a teenager, an apprentice to business, or an able bodied seaman, Brown moves through Forester's novel without an inner light, emotionless. He seems to have no soul. Conventions of commitment to mission take its place. And Albert takes action like a machine, a cog in the wheel of the navy, enduring until the ultimate moment.
This is all odd. Not only for a novel written in the jaded aftermath of World War I, which saw the emergence of pacifist fiction in both the high and popular arts. But it's also odd even in the context of writers of military action/adventure and even those still immersed in the legacy of Victorian empire. For example, I've just finished reading through H. Rider Haggard's Quatermain series. Haggard's hero is filled with self-doubt, remorse, introspection. Of course, Haggard questioned the morality of empire, but his Quatermain had a surprising depth of character for a hero of popular fiction. Forester's Brown has none of this. Yes, Brown on Resolution does contain elements of anti-war commentary, but most of that is within the context of a mechanical age that has outlawed romantic heroism. So what else could Brown be but a sociopath, a merciless killing machine who does not even feel anger or revenge as his motivation.
Again, for whom was this written? Not for a boy's adventure magazine. Not as a romance about war. But as a commentary on the dreadful nature of existence in the modern machine age? Perhaps it is targeted at those army of business clerks of the 1920s doomed to live a life that Albert only escaped from to serve in the navy--and meet with a costly end. It's a strange work of fiction.
What to make of this hero, Brown? It is here that things get interesting. Brown is a creature of duty, a product of training, the compressed yield of hundreds of years of Royal Navy tradition within the empire. He is also a sociopath. Whether a young boy, a teenager, an apprentice to business, or an able bodied seaman, Brown moves through Forester's novel without an inner light, emotionless. He seems to have no soul. Conventions of commitment to mission take its place. And Albert takes action like a machine, a cog in the wheel of the navy, enduring until the ultimate moment.
This is all odd. Not only for a novel written in the jaded aftermath of World War I, which saw the emergence of pacifist fiction in both the high and popular arts. But it's also odd even in the context of writers of military action/adventure and even those still immersed in the legacy of Victorian empire. For example, I've just finished reading through H. Rider Haggard's Quatermain series. Haggard's hero is filled with self-doubt, remorse, introspection. Of course, Haggard questioned the morality of empire, but his Quatermain had a surprising depth of character for a hero of popular fiction. Forester's Brown has none of this. Yes, Brown on Resolution does contain elements of anti-war commentary, but most of that is within the context of a mechanical age that has outlawed romantic heroism. So what else could Brown be but a sociopath, a merciless killing machine who does not even feel anger or revenge as his motivation.
Again, for whom was this written? Not for a boy's adventure magazine. Not as a romance about war. But as a commentary on the dreadful nature of existence in the modern machine age? Perhaps it is targeted at those army of business clerks of the 1920s doomed to live a life that Albert only escaped from to serve in the navy--and meet with a costly end. It's a strange work of fiction.
June 6, 2020
The life story of Albert Brown, Leading Seaman on His Majesty's Ship Charybdis. Not just his life, but his very conception and the time leading up to it. For a few days in 1893 twenty-nine year old spinster Agatha Brown abandons her life with her father and brothers and has a wild time in London with a handsome young sailor. When she becomes in a certain way her family is appalled, so she leaves them to go out on her own. When she has a son she is determined that he shall be a sailor like his father and shapes his life to that end.
Brown inevitably joins the Navy and is assigned to the aged light cruiser Charybdis. Shortly begins WWI, which finds Brown in the Pacific and his ship assigned to searching for Germany's lone fleet at sea. When the Charybdis does find one of the ships Brown finds himself suddenly prisoner on a German ship, and that ship puts into the safe harbor of the island of Resolution, the northern most of the Galapagos, for repairs. Brown grabs a rifle, jumps ship, and wages a one man war for King and Country. Alone against hundreds of angry Germans on an island of sharp volcanic rock and cactus with only the water he can carry he harrasses his enemy relentlessly. In doing so he allows enough time for the British Navy to make an appearance(Spoiler Alert! Germany loses WWI).
A novel a dogged commitment to duty, and the will of a single man to overcome all obstacles and make a difference. Another great man in Forester's long list of great characters.
Brown inevitably joins the Navy and is assigned to the aged light cruiser Charybdis. Shortly begins WWI, which finds Brown in the Pacific and his ship assigned to searching for Germany's lone fleet at sea. When the Charybdis does find one of the ships Brown finds himself suddenly prisoner on a German ship, and that ship puts into the safe harbor of the island of Resolution, the northern most of the Galapagos, for repairs. Brown grabs a rifle, jumps ship, and wages a one man war for King and Country. Alone against hundreds of angry Germans on an island of sharp volcanic rock and cactus with only the water he can carry he harrasses his enemy relentlessly. In doing so he allows enough time for the British Navy to make an appearance(Spoiler Alert! Germany loses WWI).
A novel a dogged commitment to duty, and the will of a single man to overcome all obstacles and make a difference. Another great man in Forester's long list of great characters.
September 22, 2019
This book was written by the same author as the Hornblower stories but earlier in his career, in the 1930’s. The author fits his plot into actual history in the time period of the battle of Coronel in the South Pacific. The hero is a seaman on a British cruiser sunk by one of von Spee’s squadron before that battle, and while a POW on a fictional German armored cruiser, succeeds in causing her destruction single handed.
The plot verges on improbable but that’s not what interests me most about the book. The story begins when the hero is a raw recruit and takes him through a romance that leads to marriage in a time period when customs were very different from now. In fact, Mr. Forester evidently felt he had to develop the man’s character for almost half the book before he gets to naval operations! Guess he thought the audience had to know his hero a lot better before we could fully appreciate his heroism. I guess he figured out later that the reader can be fed character traits along with the main plot line, making this technique unnecessary.
However, I thought the book was entertaining even though it didn’t have the nonstop action naval fiction has had since WWII.
The plot verges on improbable but that’s not what interests me most about the book. The story begins when the hero is a raw recruit and takes him through a romance that leads to marriage in a time period when customs were very different from now. In fact, Mr. Forester evidently felt he had to develop the man’s character for almost half the book before he gets to naval operations! Guess he thought the audience had to know his hero a lot better before we could fully appreciate his heroism. I guess he figured out later that the reader can be fed character traits along with the main plot line, making this technique unnecessary.
However, I thought the book was entertaining even though it didn’t have the nonstop action naval fiction has had since WWII.
September 19, 2025
Churchill Loved It (I Enjoyed It Too)
"At the end of the voyage (to meet President Roosevelt, four months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor), he dictated a letter to his wife to say that he had read Forester’s Brown on Resolution (1929), 'which is a charming love story most attractively told.True up to a point.'" (Winstonchurchill.org) Um...well...a "charming love story...up to a point." I wonder if Clementine read it on that advice. It is actually a vividly, at times brutally, told story of duty and honor against insurmountable odds, the kind of yarn Churchill would have admired, especially with its flattering portrayal of the British Navy. It is a stiff upper lip kind of novel, archaic, Edwardian even, with a clever and engaging plot. Those looking for a spares – no – details war story can begin the book when Brown goes to sea. Those wanting a checkered love story can stop at the same place.
"At the end of the voyage (to meet President Roosevelt, four months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor), he dictated a letter to his wife to say that he had read Forester’s Brown on Resolution (1929), 'which is a charming love story most attractively told.True up to a point.'" (Winstonchurchill.org) Um...well...a "charming love story...up to a point." I wonder if Clementine read it on that advice. It is actually a vividly, at times brutally, told story of duty and honor against insurmountable odds, the kind of yarn Churchill would have admired, especially with its flattering portrayal of the British Navy. It is a stiff upper lip kind of novel, archaic, Edwardian even, with a clever and engaging plot. Those looking for a spares – no – details war story can begin the book when Brown goes to sea. Those wanting a checkered love story can stop at the same place.
June 7, 2024
Well planned novel
Each scene is well thought out to lead to it's consequences. Agatha, a 29 year old maiden off to visit a friend. Subconsciously seeking life other than hers sets up the encounter with the commander.
Years of stout independence raising a prop royal Navy lad. Not brilliant as his father is not brilliant.
Lad joins the RN from the enlisted side. Father is RN from the elite side of life. Both father and son rise slowly by doing efficient work. Nothing spectacular, just efficient.
Son, through chance finds himself in a special position as a prisoner. Agatha has drilled into him duty. He holds the German long enough for the father's squadron to meet the German cruiser.
Father kills the German cruiser to much acclaim. Son dies horribly an unsung hero. Neither a brilliant Navy player.
Well thought out by Forester.
Each scene is well thought out to lead to it's consequences. Agatha, a 29 year old maiden off to visit a friend. Subconsciously seeking life other than hers sets up the encounter with the commander.
Years of stout independence raising a prop royal Navy lad. Not brilliant as his father is not brilliant.
Lad joins the RN from the enlisted side. Father is RN from the elite side of life. Both father and son rise slowly by doing efficient work. Nothing spectacular, just efficient.
Son, through chance finds himself in a special position as a prisoner. Agatha has drilled into him duty. He holds the German long enough for the father's squadron to meet the German cruiser.
Father kills the German cruiser to much acclaim. Son dies horribly an unsung hero. Neither a brilliant Navy player.
Well thought out by Forester.
February 25, 2022
A masterpiece of human psychology determining individual destiny, this slim yet abundant story of English seaman Albert Brown, his peculiar origins and single-minded devotion to duty--with the aid of a rifle and plenty of ammunition-- leads to an improbable and important victory of the Royal Navy over a menacing German battle cruiser in the remote Pacific during the early years of World War I. Like many of Forester's novels, his values (not appreciated by many these days) infuse his plot and characters. Honor, pride, resourcefulness and self-sacrifice (in a word, heroism) for the sake of a greater cause are the stuff of Forester's world. Albert Brown and Horatio Hornblower are two sides of the same coin.
April 17, 2023
The master writer of Naval warfare pens a terrific First World War tale of passion,stubbornness, courage and duty rising to an almost unbearable if inevitable crescendo, the ironic circumstances of which none of the many combatants were ever aware.
C.S. Forester’s books are perfectly complete capsules of life when Britannia ruled the waves. His characters are so elegantly described and believable, some of the minor ones almost Dickensianly comic (Mr Gold and the Chief Clerk), but mostly limited in their choices but grimly, if tragically, determined to achieve their rather heroic destiny (Agatha, Albert and his father, Captain Richard E.S. Saville-Samarez, C.B, M.V.O).
Oh, damn it - 5 stars.
C.S. Forester’s books are perfectly complete capsules of life when Britannia ruled the waves. His characters are so elegantly described and believable, some of the minor ones almost Dickensianly comic (Mr Gold and the Chief Clerk), but mostly limited in their choices but grimly, if tragically, determined to achieve their rather heroic destiny (Agatha, Albert and his father, Captain Richard E.S. Saville-Samarez, C.B, M.V.O).
Oh, damn it - 5 stars.
June 22, 2019
What a wonderful read! Although filled with action it is the insight afforded by Forester into the characters that I think really drives this novel. Without the pages devoted to the mother of the hero (nearly half the book) the stubborn bravery of Leading Seaman Albert Brown in taking on a German light cruiser with only a rifle would rise only a little above the level of a boy’s comic of the 1930s.
May 16, 2021
A curious mixture of elements that is reflective of attitudes of the time. The strongest parts of the story are the unfairness and the hypocrisy that lead Brown’s mother to be cast out from her wealthy family and the characteristic brilliant telling of Brown’s adventure on the island. I am uncomfortable with the callousness of Brown’s killing spree in which there is scarcely any sympathy for the victims. But that may well have been Forester’s intention.
August 14, 2019
This is a outstanding little read. Forester is one of my favourite authors and this book is just another example of his ability and style. He's a storyteller and this book just tells a really interesting and engaging story!
March 23, 2022
Brilliant
A brilliant account over man's life and the things he accomplished and didn't know he accomplished. Hey study of a plane life lived with intent and remarkable acts that you were I would find incredibly difficult
A brilliant account over man's life and the things he accomplished and didn't know he accomplished. Hey study of a plane life lived with intent and remarkable acts that you were I would find incredibly difficult
July 7, 2022
A reintroduction to a master of the seas
As a young teenager in high school I found the master works of naval battle through C.S. Foresters books. Now a bit older I read his work again and saw the same passion and adventure I had discovered on so much earlier in my youth.
As a young teenager in high school I found the master works of naval battle through C.S. Foresters books. Now a bit older I read his work again and saw the same passion and adventure I had discovered on so much earlier in my youth.
August 1, 2022
This is Forester's first navy related novel. It takes place during WW1 and pits a single British sailor against a German warship. It is filled with the kind of detail that I have become accustomed to in Forester novels.
January 31, 2023
C.S.Forester a story of HM Navy in the Great War
Cannot get enough Forester again after 60 years. This is even better with time.
A great novel exploring the fictional life of a British Seaman and dedication to duty.
Cannot get enough Forester again after 60 years. This is even better with time.
A great novel exploring the fictional life of a British Seaman and dedication to duty.
September 21, 2023
When British seaman Albert Brown, raised by his single mother to idolize the Navy, is one of 3 survivors of the sinking of his warship by a German destroyer, he escapes from captivity & sets out to make war on the destroyer single-handed, armed only with a rifle.
September 5, 2017
Beautifully captivating, a great read--even the smallest actions amount to huge changes
February 11, 2020
One of my favourite books by a favourite author . Agatha is sort of the anti Maria from the Hornblower series . The title is lovely.
April 15, 2020
Excellent reading! This story is about the uncommon heroism of the common man.
July 4, 2022
A interesting set up for discussing the meaning of duty without glory, about what one motivated person can achieve.
September 14, 2022
An early well written seafaring book by Forester. Not cheery or modern but a good read and a story of a hero,
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