To Glory We Steer

Richard Bolitho #7

by Alexander Kent

Multi-million copy seller Alexander Kent, brings us another all-action Bolitho adventure. If you're a fan of Patrick O'Brian and C. S. Forester, then this is the book for you!

'Alexander Kent is certainly as good as Forester was in action, and in the wheeling movement of sails.' -- Sunday Times
'A salty testament to the mystique and the brutality of the square-rigger.' -- New York Times Book Review
'Alexander Kent...is, above all, a superb story-teller.' -- Manchester Evening News
'This is a classic story of triumph over adversity and I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading it' -- ***** Reader review
'Couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review
'It's action from start to finish with twists and turns to keep the reader guessing and wanting more' -- ***** Reader review
'A brilliant, exciting read'-- ***** Reader review

************************************************************************************

1782: British Captain Richard Bolitho is ordered to take the frigate Phalarope to the Caribbean, where the hard-pressed royal squadrons are fighting for their lives against the combined fleets of France and Spain and the upstart American privateers. It should have been a proud moment for so young and junior a captain - but the Phalarope has already been driven to near mutiny and she is regarded with shame and suspicion.

But Bolitho is no ordinary man and his efforts to give the ship back her pride mark him apart from his contemporaries. As the little frigate sails under the blazing sun and battles enemies within and without, Bolitho spares neither himself nor his men - and in the final great battle of the Saintes, the chance comes to prove what both he and the Phalarope can achieve.

Bolitho's adventures continue in Command a King's Ship.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Nautical, Adventure, War, Maritime

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

A pseudonym used by Douglas Reeman.

Series:
* Richard Bolitho
* Adam Bolitho

Reviews

[Carlos Magdaleno Herrero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enero de 1783, en el puerto de Portsmouth. La fragata de Su Majestad Phalarope recibe órdenes de acudir en apoyo de la debilitada flota del Caribe. Bolitho es su nuevo comandante. A primera vista la Phalarope es todo lo que puede desear un joven capitán, pero en realidad se trata de un buque caído en desgracia, la plana mayor de la flota lo considera un buque maldito y no confía en él. Entre sus oficiales reina la codicia y la ambición, mientras que entre la marinería corren rumores de insubordinación.

Sexta entrega de la saga Bolitho, aunque el anterior que había leído era el siguiente a este. En sagas tan largas es harto difícil encontrar todos los libros y llevar el orden correcto. En esta ocasión el autor trata de ahondar en las supersticiones de los hombres de mar en cuanto a la fortuna o desgracia que pueda recaer sobre un pecio, y sobre como pueden reaccionar los oficiales en los momentos cruciales, cuando todo depende de ellos, y que a veces dejan mucho que desear.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book and the one that got me reading about Richard Bolitho and Thomas Herrick.

[Chris Gager · Rating 4 out of 5]

Next up... picked up from the town transfer station of course. My paperback is from 1978 and not pictured in the lookup. No cover anyway...

Finally got into it last night. Pretty darned "meaty' so far!

And now the meat has gotten well-bloodied as the first encounter with a privateer has taken place and it was nasty. Very violent and well described.

Cruising along in the action-filled tale. Ups and downs and ups for Bolitho. No romance though. Fighting(lots), bravery, luck, cowardice, treachery, and the frustration of chain-of-command all come into play.

- Two dead French sentries - reminds me of The Last of the Mohicans!

- This book just races along - a true can't-put-downer.

- The nasty flogging makes it difficult to root for the nasty Brits who do it - even unto arbitrary and needless death. Totally barbaric!

All done now after staying up too late - as usual. As one reviewer has pointed out the Bolitho-is-an-English warrior/god gushing gets to be a bit much a times, but this is not enough to lower the rating. Everything ends with another orgy of blood, death and destruction at the Battle of the Saintes by the Dominica Passage. Bolitho survives badly wounded but a LOT of others don't. Fortunes of war...

- NO women(virtually) in this tale!

[Marshall T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read this book back in the mid-1970s. It is an excellent story and really created a desire to continue the tale. Alexander Kent mastered his art of story telling in this novel. This is now book #7 in the story, but at that time, it was one of the first. In fact, it was part of a 4-book boxed set, which I still have and I am still reading from.

The box set contained To Glory We Steer (1968), Command a King's Ship (1973), Enemy in Sight (1970), and The Flag Captain (1971). I later picked up Sloop of War (1972) after reading these four books. That was around 1977 and I did not find out about all the other books in the series until about 2001. (wow!)

It is amazing how many of the backstories, now covered in books 1 thru 6, that he wrote after this one, are linked to the contents of this book.

Rereading this series is like finding an old friend. It is great to be reading it in order now and rediscovering the journey. On to the next book - Command a King's Ship (1973)

[Bob Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a treat this time Bolitho has gotten command after his success in Sparrow, as Captain of Phalarope a frigate. But he has a troubled ship. Phalarope has a bad reputation: shy in battle, a nice way of saying it is a coward and a crew in almost mutiny. Bolitho manages to turn the bad reputation around and have a successful ship and crew. How he does it is the heart of this story so you will just have to read to find out.

[LeezaW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though no main female characters in this tale, (as mentioned in other reviews)this would have been accurate for that time aboard the Naval ships.

Fast pace, meaty story, did not want to put down.

Highlights:
- realistic work relationships (some of which I witness in my own work place) and how the characters navigate these relationships e.g. rivalry, jealousy, admiration, hierarchy
- insight into the hardships of life aboard the ships in those times
- creativity with how the men felt about being aboard the ships. There was such a mixture of feeling, from passion to serve king and country, fear, victimisation of being pressed into service, pride, duty etc.

[Boulder Boulderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of the Hornblower-alikes. Bolitho is more fallible than Hornblower, so although you still know that he's going to pull through in the end, it's more tense on the way. Good old-fashioned Age of Sail heroism.

[John Marrack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The action was good as always, but the leadership really shined in this book. It put some things into perspective.

[Adam K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some thoughts:

I found this book to be better, in some respects, compared with the previous novels. The constant hero-worship of Bolitho is toned down a bit (though still present), and Bolitho has to face some real personal losses. There were some fun twists thrown in, and of course there was plenty of swashbuckling action.

However, Bolitho is still sort of a bland character himself, and I think I finally understand what bothers me about the way the other characters treat him. It's not just that the other characters are in constant awe of Bolitho--it's the fact that they understand him so deeply and consciously. One of the biggest struggles of being in a position like his is trying to do the right thing while your peers or subordinates fail to understand where you're coming from and why. It's something that Horatio Hornblower always dreaded, and I think it makes him a more relatable character. With Bolitho, even the lowliest of sailors seem to look deeply beyond Bolitho's stern exterior and are able to divine his inner feelings and tribulations, and sympathize with him. I find it rather off-putting, and I think this may be what raises Bolitho to be the sort of "British sea god of war" that other reviewers have mentioned. That being said, this book is a bit better about it, and combined with a decent plot and plenty of action, I found this book to be a fun read.

I did have an issue with the ending. I felt like the audience is not given enough time to ruminate on the death of Stockdale, and that he is too rapidly replaced with Allday and Herrick as the trusty reliable crew members upon whom he can thoroughly depend. After all these books with Stockdale, he's sort of just tossed aside and we're given the shiny new replacements instead of seeing Bolitho feel any real emotion about the loss at all. This coupled with the sort of mild acceptance of the death of his father only further paints out Bolitho's personality, though I understand that the last chapter is from Herrick's point of view. I think it was a missed opportunity.

[Viva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoilers ahead:

The blurb at the top of the page basically summarizes it all. Richard Bolitho (RB) is given a 28 gun frigate, the Phalarope for service in the Caribbean but she comes with baggage. The previous captain was a sadist and flogged men at the least provocation. The first lieutenant is a harsh and unimaginative man, seething underneath because he didn't get promoted. The second lieutenant is a coward. His crew is also unhappy because of the treatment from the officers.

The setting is towards the end of the American Revolution and RB has his hands full dealing with the French, the Americans, the hot weather and a top-up crew of malcontents that the local admiral has foisted on him in order to get rid of them from the flagship.

I've been reading this series in order and except for the first 3 books I've come to really enjoy them. After Hornblower, I found this series to be the best among the clones (Kydd, Lewrie, Drinkwater, Ramage and Edgemont). But I have not yet read Aubrey.

I like this series because the writing is easy to read and follow. And Kent spends a lot of time on his characters from the highest admiral to the lowest seaman and it's this which makes the book real and interesting. If you care for the characters you care for the book. And you only care for the characters if the author makes them realistic and interesting.

A small issue is that Kent goes overboard a little in making RB a saint. I get he's a good guy; there's no need to keep reminding us, including dialog hero worship from his underlings. At least it's not like Ramage, where everyone hero worships him including enemies who've only laid eyes on him for 5 minutes. Hornblower does it best where less is more.

Anyway, I can't wait to read the next book when I've finished one. I'm already on the next book.

[Eric_W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kent ranks right ups there with Forester (perhaps even better) and O'Brian (not quite as good as Patrick) in the realm of nautical fiction. There are still other authors out there I am only now discovering, as publishers — bless their souls — have discovered the market for this wonderful genre following in the wake of the very successful Aubrey/ Maturin series. McBooks Press and the Naval Institute have both begun "classic naval books" series to reissue titles that have been long out-of- print. Kent's hero is Richard Bolitho.

Unfortunately, I was unable to begin with the first volume in the series, a shortcoming that I will have to remedy. Bolitho is the son of a seafaring family. We learn in this volume that his black-sheep brother, Hugh, has fled to America to seek his fortune (it's 1782). Hugh has also become the captain of an American privateer. Richard is given command of the Phalarope, a ship beset with a mutinous crew, an ex-cowardly captain, and a vicious first lieutenant. He is sent to the West Indies where he and Hugh unintentionally stumble into each other's way during a battle. Richard is later captured and becomes the prisoner of his brother. Through a fortuitous change in the weather, Richard escapes. Much to the consternation of the service, he fails to kill his brother in the process, the theory being that perhaps he had shown leniency to an enemy. The Phalarope, Richard's ship, almost succumbs to a mutiny — hard to believe that might happen to Hornblower — but of course Richard manages to redeem himself in the eyes of the admiral and participate in a rather vicious battle against the French. An excellent read.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still in his twenties, but now a captain, Richard Bolitho has returned to Portsmouth, England with his captured sloop, the Sparrow. Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Langford gives Bolitho command of a frigate, the Phalarope, a ship whose reputation has been marred by its captain and a near mutiny. Orders are to set sail for the Caribbean immediately with no shore leave for Bolitho or his new crew. Before leaving England they stop at Bolitho's home town of Falmouth where he sees his father and learns that his older brother, once a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, has joined the Americans. The primary reason for the visit was to press men into service on the ship, essentially kidnapping them - apparently an earlier form of what we know as the draft.

On their way to the Windward Islands they come across an English ship and are almost along side before Bolitho smells a rat - the ship, captured by privateers, intends to capture the Phalarope. Both ships are severely damaged and the privateer flees after Bolitho does the unexpected to win the upper hand.

Their victory does not impress the brass at Antigua. The Phalarope is placed on a lonely patrol where Bolitho manages to find a supply lugger carrying supplies to the damaged privateer hiding in an island cove. Naturally Bolitho goes after it.

The formerly mutinous crew has become a loyal, fighting machine. All because of their respect for their courageous young captain.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the many imitators of Hornblower. Pretty good, but not up to the original. I'd maybe give this 3 1/2 stars if I could.

It's certainly better than many, though, so if you are starved for 18th century sea yarns, this is a good choice.

My favorite of the Hornblower imitators is Jay Worrall, with books like Any Approaching Enemy.

[Alonzo Church · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably as good as this type of book gets. Characters are the finest cardboard — stock villains, cowards, officious officers, devoted officers. The plot, while fast moving, is merely a thread to string together the lovingly described naval actions. The cruelty of the 18th century naval life is alluded to, but not felt. And the narrative arc — a new captain turns his mutinous crew to an exemplar of naval discipline — is a good one, but the novel falls short of the material. Wanted to like this. Ultimately, I didn’t.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every naval series has to have a story about mutiny, bad captains and overcoming those odds. This one has Bolitho taking over his new frigate as captain and finding that his mission will be made far more serious and fraught with danger because of the mutinous legacy left him by the former captain.

[Robert Fairhurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thew book that got me started on naval fiction.

[Michael Koch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This interesting book is the fifth in this series and covers an adventure of Richard Bolitho commanding a ship in the Royal Navy near the end of the American Revolutionary Wars. The war with revolutionary France has not yet started however, France is already assisting the United States with their Revolutionary Wars. HMS Phalarope was formerly under a Captain whose brutal ill treatment of his crew has nearly driven them to mutiny. Although Bolitho is now in command, his first officer and Admiral are both cut from the cloth of the previous Captain and seem unable to resist threshing the crew. If Bolitho cannot get the crew under control, the crew will mutiny, and the ship become useless to the fleet.

Bolitho and Phalarope are immediately returned to the Caribbean to assist the hard-pressed fleet in the West Indies. This, of course, further aggravates the crew as a result of their extended absence from home. The ship is overwhelmed with stress and overwork as a result of sailing short-handed. The West Indies Admiral does Bolitho the ‘favour’ of giving him 20 extra crew. They are the worst sailors in the fleet and create more problems than solutions. Two or three undermine everything taught or ordered by the officers regardless of the crew’s treatment. They conspire to make the able seamen make errors and falsify reports earning them discipline ‘proving’ to the rest of the crew how bad all officers behave.

Despite the challenges, Phalarope unearths the location of part of the US fleet. It is in the process of meeting up with the French fleet and taking Jamaica. The British fleet has orders to find and destroy the US and French fleets. Bolitho determines where the French fleet is and the British fleet sails to block its passage. As the fleets gather to do battle, the Phalarope is up against a larger frigate while the flagship Cassius is lined up against a monster French ship for whom she is terribly under armed and overwhelmed. Phalarope is gradually beating her target however she turns to help Cassius and grapples her opponent. Phalarope takes her enemy and Bolitho leads his crew over the French ship and helps Cassius crew ultimately take her enemy also. As the rest of the British fleet arrives, the French fleet sails off to protect France in lieu of the United States.

The true mutineers and troublemakers have been caught and punished. The Phalarope’s reputation has been restored and the true victims of earlier troubles have also had their good names restored. Bolitho returns to his inheritance but will return in the next book.

This was a good story, well told. Four stars.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 3 out of 5]

As is often the case, you can definitely tell that this is the author's first book. The writing definitely is more choppy (and he repeats a few turns of phrase) and the vibes are definitely different. The previous books (in time anyway) of the series were much more event focused, where here we actually have a bit of a cast that seems like its going to stick around beyond Richard and Stockdale.

Those two (the main characters throughout so far) were also different.. Stockdale seemed more a standard naval guy than he had been before, and RIchard was very much the picture of Hornblower.. the aggressive proper British Captain.

Clearly, sailing on a frigate is what the author thinks is the ultimate in your naval career... I suspect that's why he wrote this one first. Ironically, despite talking about how it was like its own world and the freedom it gave, they were tied to a small area and a squadron most of the book.

While alot of the elements were there that I enjoyed in the beginning of the series, this one just wasn't as well put together. As with the others, the details of Bolitho's yet unwritten past were a bit mixed up compare to the later written books, including an especially weird bit where he uses a name he used earlier and doing so doesn't evoke any comment.

The climatic battle was also a bit less satisfying than some of the others... almost like he was trying to convey the confusion and chaos of battle more than writing a good one, which did not work as well. Then there's the stuff with Hugh, which seemed a bit gratuitous and unnecessary. If you want to have his brother be his opposite/arch enemy.. you have to do better than this.

I do wonder how much of Richard's life story the author had worked out to start before writing the first one. Overall, I'm glad I started at chronologically, I'm not sure I would have read more if I started with this one.

[Studebhawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

For Duty & Glory
In this the fifth in the Bolitho series, our here moves onto a ship encumbered by a bad reputation. With this new command, our hero has to rally the crew to his leadership. This is quite a feat at a time when the British Navy relied on men recruited by “press gangs” to man their fleet. Bolitho has to depend on these men of mixed loyalties to carry out his mission in the Caribbean sea during wartime. This theatre is interesting since the enemy is the French Navy which has come to the aid of the upstart American rebel colonies. On a Caribbean cruise last year I had the opportunity to visit Antigua. The historic British Admiral Nelson boatyard is well worth the visit. It was strategic in scope, a large safe harbor for the British fleet during the period of time of this novel. You can appreciate the value of this safe harbor to the British during the war against the French and the Americans.
The action builds steadily right up to the final chapter that wraps up this installment in the Bolitho series. We learn a little more about our hero in this one, but, what we really learn here is a lesson in command. With the sacrifices and the suffering that occurs during the story, what stands out here id the Captain’s duty to the men under his command, the skill, the strategy and tactics on a wooden ship at war on a hostile unforgiving sea.

[Richard Caniglia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action and Character

Many good writers find themselves limited by limited knowledge of themes they must necessarily include in their novel. When that happens, they either short-change the theme or elaborate it excessively as if that can cover their deficiency. Not so with Kent.

This book was a masterpiece of both character development and lessons in leadership. The author is so correct in his treatment of both that it is a joy to read. Add to that his mastery of action, his sense for the amount of detail needed—not too much, not too little— and the novel just works. All of his novels just work.

I have read and enjoyed the Hornblower novels, but I believe Kent takes the top prize.

[C.A. A. Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolute peach of a read. I loved every part of this. It moved along swiftly with Richard Bolitho coming up against a former British ship that has been captured by American privateers. There are a couple of encounters between Richard's ship and the larger American privateer. When Captain Bolitho discovers the enemy ship's captain, further intrigue builds to an almighty climax. The whole story has a wonderful feel of 1782. The American war of Independence is all but lost to the British. However, the Caribbean is being viciously contested by the French and the American with the Royal Navy meeting the new challenge head on. A real page turner for sure.

[Kendon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent beach read! It keeps you turning pages, and the plot is fairly original, which is often what matters most in such tales! However, Kent is no Forester or O’Brian! And there is something else! A curious tic, indeed! The author seemingly has not met a bit of dialogue which could not be improved by an exclamation! One has the sense that the characters are breathlessly excited at all times! It wears on you after a space! But still, a fun book if you enjoy action in the age of sail! All others can skip!

[Don Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story

Bolitho continues his climb up the ranks, commanding a frigate in the closing stages of the American War of Independence. In this story he faces challenges from both within his own ship and enemies aplenty. He overcomes them all to triumph once more, though at a heavy cost. A stirring tale with excitement and tragedy, The characters are engaging and colorful, the action taut and gripping. As usual skillfully woven to the fabric of real history. Well worth the time it takes to read.

[Duane · Rating 3 out of 5]

The one that started it all....I guess this is about as good as Kent/Reeman gets. And it just isn't that good. Obviously I'm spoiled by years now of actual good writing, and especially of Patrick O'Brian. There is a decent story here, and semi-decent characterization and growth, I guess. But compared to the greats it feels pretty perfunctory. (Now that I'm reading them in order it was amusing to note that he recycled his own "sneak the tiny midshipman through the tiny hole in the ship" trick again in one of the execrable Midshipman Bolitho books.)

[Chris Shockey · Rating 5 out of 5]

High Adventure in the Age of Sail

Captain Bolitho unexpectedly encounters his older Brother Hugh and battles the French fleet on the high seas in the West Indies in this latest installment of the acclaimed series. Taking command of a frigate accused of cowardice, Captain Richard Bolitho, RN must restore the self respect and pride of its ill-treated crew and put down a mutiny in time to intercept the enemy

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a rather enjoyable book, Bolitho graduates from his sloop to a veritable frigate and returns to his hunting grounds before the American coast. Other than sparrow, his new command is a kess lucky ship and has had a mutiny just before Bolitho takes command.
There are a few set backs, some if deeply personal nature, but Kent continues to do a difficult job, write about a winning hero in a war destined to be lost.

[William Howle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast paced story of war as the British navy takes on the French in the Caribbean. Richard Bolitho take over a ship with a bad history. It is his job to make it into a fighting unit. It is always interesting to read about the old British navy, the press gangs and the way discipline is maintained by flogging and other vicious means. Will read more in this genre.

[JP Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

another phenomenal yarn

Once again, Bolitho has delivered the seemingly impossible! But this time, not just with sloops and frigates, but attacking the great ships of the line in the Caribbean… What an incredible tale of low points and high points, good friends, and evil enemies. but in the end, Bolitho rise from the quarterdeck, steel in hand!

[Mike Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

To glory we steer

Another fine book of adventure at sea by Alexander Kent. Full on action that makes the blood run fast as though you are a teenager again. The action is incredible in detail and I must say makes the palms moist with the excitement. I cannot recommend this book enough to the reader.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another really good Bolitho novel finds him in command of a new ship and on picket duty in the Caribbean. Posted to a ship whose Captain was removed following a mutiny he must keep command of his ship while doing his duty.