Brewer and the Barbary Pirates

by James Keffer, Nigel Peever (Narrator)

It is said that a man is grown by his past, and so it was with William Brewer. Before he took command of HMS Defiant in a hurricane and before he hunted pirates in HMS Revenge, Brewer endured a crucible of fire that molded him into the legend he became.

Fresh from the tutelage of Napoleon Bonaparte on St. Helena, Brewer signs on for a cruise under Captain Bush in HMS Lydia to the Mediterranean to battle the Barbary Pirates. Here, Brewer learns to fight, but he also learns what it means to command men in battle and what it takes to order men to their deaths.

Their enemy is a Scottish renegade who is responsible for the deaths of dozens of his fellow sailors over the years and the selling of hundreds of Europeans into African slavery. Along the way, Brewer is introduced to new heroes and new devils. He also receives sage advice from no less than the Duke of Wellington himself. In the end, Brewer has to use all he’s learned - not to mention going beyond all that - to save HMS Lydia from total destruction at the hands of pirates.

Audible Audio

Published May 20, 2021

Reviews

[Jay Simmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing the saga of Lieut. Brewer, who became known to us under the tutelage of Horatio Hornblower on St Helena, during Napoleon’s exile there. I always have an interest when an author creates either a prequel or a sequel to works I have enjoyed. C. S. Forester is responsible for my love of Historical novels of the Royal Navy in the 18th and early 19th centuries. So when Hornblower and The Island was published I added it to my Kindle immediately.
I have two major concerns with this volume. The first is the number of typos, grammatical errors and repeated words or phrases in a sentence. Needs a decent editor.
Second is the continuing infatuation with Bonaparte. Due to my strong interest in the Royal Navy of this period, I have read extensively of contemporary historians of this period. I believe that open admiration of Napoleon at that time in England and especially the Royal Navy would have destroyed a career. I sense a bit of revisionist history there.
All in all if a fan of historical novels of this period I would recommend a try. My recommendation is to read them in chronological order, as many events, and characters from earlier volumes are referenced or appear without explanation and you will be left wondering why.

[Deedra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audible:This was another excellent tale of Mr Brewer,Mr Hurst and Horatio Hornblower.Mr Hornblower takes them home to meet his family and talk some business. It is a tale of ships rescued and lost,battles lost and won. Very exciting. Mr Nigel Peever was once again a wonderful narrator. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

[Georgia Tumbleweed McNabb · Rating 4 out of 5]

have never really read or listened to books dealing with Nautical information and this story informed me of a lot of things I was not aware of. This is a page Turner type of book and I enjoyed it. Narrator does a good job with the characters and entire storyline.

[James Baldini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

A good book for you to read. Lots of action and killing pirates. Good companion for the book of Hornblower!

[William L Schwarzschild]

As good as any Hornblower book!