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Carlisle & Holbrooke Naval Adventures #10
Nor'west by North
By late 1759 it is clear that France is losing the Seven Years War. In a desperate gamble, the French Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets combine to dominate the Channel and cover a landing in the south of England, but they are annihilated by Admiral Hawke at Quiberon Bay. Meanwhile, a diversionary landing is planned in the north of Britain, and it sails from Dunkirk before news of the disaster at Quiberon Bay can reach its commander. The ill-fated expedition sets out to circumnavigate Britain in an attempt to salvage something from the failed strategy.
George Holbrooke, newly promoted to post-captain and commanding the frigate Argonaut, joins a squadron sent to intercept the French expedition. The quest takes him to Sweden, the Faroes, the Western Isles of Scotland and then to Ireland and the Isle of Man. The final act is played out at a secluded anchorage in the Bristol Channel.
Nor’west by North is the tenth Carlisle and Holbrooke novel. The series follows Carlisle and his protégé Holbrooke through the Seven Years War and into the period of turbulent relations between Britain and her American colonies prior to their bid for independence.
George Holbrooke, newly promoted to post-captain and commanding the frigate Argonaut, joins a squadron sent to intercept the French expedition. The quest takes him to Sweden, the Faroes, the Western Isles of Scotland and then to Ireland and the Isle of Man. The final act is played out at a secluded anchorage in the Bristol Channel.
Nor’west by North is the tenth Carlisle and Holbrooke novel. The series follows Carlisle and his protégé Holbrooke through the Seven Years War and into the period of turbulent relations between Britain and her American colonies prior to their bid for independence.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
291 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 16, 2021
342 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Chris Durbin
15 books70 followersChris Durbin grew up in the seaside town of Porthcawl in South Wales. His first experience of sailing was as a sea cadet in the treacherous tideway of the Bristol Channel, and at the age of sixteen, he spent a week in a topsail schooner in the Southwest Approaches. He was a crew member on the Porthcawl lifeboat before joining the navy.
Chris spent twenty-four years as a warfare officer in the Royal Navy, serving in all classes of ship from aircraft carriers through destroyers and frigates to the smallest minesweepers. He took part in operational campaigns in the Falkland Islands, the Middle East and the Adriatic. As a personnel exchange officer, he spent two years teaching tactics at a US Navy training centre in San Diego.
On his retirement from the Royal Navy, Chris joined a large American company and spent eighteen years in the aerospace, defence and security industry, including two years on the design team for the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.
Chris is a graduate of the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, the British Army Command and Staff College, the United States Navy War College (where he gained a postgraduate diploma in national security decision-making) and Cambridge University (where he was awarded an MPhil in International Relations).
With a lifelong interest in naval history and a long-standing ambition to write historical fiction, Chris has embarked upon creating the Carlisle & Holbrooke series, in which a colonial Virginian commands a British navy frigate during the middle years of the eighteenth century.
The series will follow its principal characters through the Seven Years War and into the period of turbulent relations between Britain and her American Colonies in the 1760s. They’ll negotiate some thought-provoking loyalty issues when British policy and colonial restlessness lead inexorably to the American Revolution.
Chris now lives on the south coast of England, surrounded by hundreds of years of naval history. His three children are all busy growing their own families and careers while Chris and his wife (US Navy, retired) of thirty-seven years enjoy sailing their classic dayboat.
Chris spent twenty-four years as a warfare officer in the Royal Navy, serving in all classes of ship from aircraft carriers through destroyers and frigates to the smallest minesweepers. He took part in operational campaigns in the Falkland Islands, the Middle East and the Adriatic. As a personnel exchange officer, he spent two years teaching tactics at a US Navy training centre in San Diego.
On his retirement from the Royal Navy, Chris joined a large American company and spent eighteen years in the aerospace, defence and security industry, including two years on the design team for the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.
Chris is a graduate of the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, the British Army Command and Staff College, the United States Navy War College (where he gained a postgraduate diploma in national security decision-making) and Cambridge University (where he was awarded an MPhil in International Relations).
With a lifelong interest in naval history and a long-standing ambition to write historical fiction, Chris has embarked upon creating the Carlisle & Holbrooke series, in which a colonial Virginian commands a British navy frigate during the middle years of the eighteenth century.
The series will follow its principal characters through the Seven Years War and into the period of turbulent relations between Britain and her American Colonies in the 1760s. They’ll negotiate some thought-provoking loyalty issues when British policy and colonial restlessness lead inexorably to the American Revolution.
Chris now lives on the south coast of England, surrounded by hundreds of years of naval history. His three children are all busy growing their own families and careers while Chris and his wife (US Navy, retired) of thirty-seven years enjoy sailing their classic dayboat.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 2, 2021
Holbrook to the forefront with a new Frigate
These Carlisle and Holbrook volumes are just good for the soul.
This installment has Holbrook chasing a French privateering captain with a squadron from Scandinavian let’s to the top of Scotland, attempting to stop a French landing of men and artillery in remote parts of the United Kingdom.
A gripping tale that will keep the reader engaged.
Recommend
These Carlisle and Holbrook volumes are just good for the soul.
This installment has Holbrook chasing a French privateering captain with a squadron from Scandinavian let’s to the top of Scotland, attempting to stop a French landing of men and artillery in remote parts of the United Kingdom.
A gripping tale that will keep the reader engaged.
Recommend
October 3, 2021
War Winding Down, Foreshadowing Other Events
In this book we’re back with Captain Holbrook as he pursues a French squadron with 4 frigates and troopships up the East coast of Britain in 1760. The Admiralty believes the French intend to make a landing in the north as a diversion from the main effort to invade the south. This main effort was defeated at Quiberon Bay by Admiral Hawke in a famous battle that’s even mentioned in Treasure Island. Three British frigates are sent to intercept the French, and Holbrook is the junior captain.
This is maybe the best of the series so far. The naval action is the bulk of the story line, as it should be for this genre of literature. The tactics are authentic and the landmarks are described in enough detail to show readers where they are even if they’ve never actually visited Great Britain. And as the action winds down, the author shows us a believable glimpse of life on shore and of how being promoted to post captain moves Holbrook upward in status in a class conscious society. We’re also given a demonstration of how a successful frigate captain rises further and faster when he collects a fortune in prize money. Now he needs to buy a new place to live to reflect his new status, and he can afford to.
The book is a quick, action packed read. A worthy successor to Hornblower stories.
In this book we’re back with Captain Holbrook as he pursues a French squadron with 4 frigates and troopships up the East coast of Britain in 1760. The Admiralty believes the French intend to make a landing in the north as a diversion from the main effort to invade the south. This main effort was defeated at Quiberon Bay by Admiral Hawke in a famous battle that’s even mentioned in Treasure Island. Three British frigates are sent to intercept the French, and Holbrook is the junior captain.
This is maybe the best of the series so far. The naval action is the bulk of the story line, as it should be for this genre of literature. The tactics are authentic and the landmarks are described in enough detail to show readers where they are even if they’ve never actually visited Great Britain. And as the action winds down, the author shows us a believable glimpse of life on shore and of how being promoted to post captain moves Holbrook upward in status in a class conscious society. We’re also given a demonstration of how a successful frigate captain rises further and faster when he collects a fortune in prize money. Now he needs to buy a new place to live to reflect his new status, and he can afford to.
The book is a quick, action packed read. A worthy successor to Hornblower stories.
May 8, 2022
Strongly Resent Always making the Male out as an Idiot
Maybe it’s a reflection of tThe author and his feelings of inadequacy, but both male protagonists have the inability to be even slightly wise when it comes to relationships. It doesn’t pass the smell test from my life’s experience.
Also, how can the two heroes be so good at what they do when they make so many curiously elementary mistakes. Then become almost demigods in their elaborate schemes that work out against all odds?
I’m getting tired of so much wordage about halyards, sails and whatnot. After many repetitions in every book. I’d rather that had been cut and the skipped events added to the book to give some detail on how ‘everything’ worked out, instead of going to the next chapter and…all of a sudden the ship is in port and, voila! everything worked out (the difficult report to a senior, or a whole campaign has been completed…or…).
Also, I know this is not a romance novel or I wouldn’t be reading it. But to have babies you must have, er, s***** relations which is skipped. Also, there is no real emotional attachments formed, just stiff upper lip discussions and an occasional ‘glance with understanding’ passing between a man and woman. Give us a break and help develop the attachment for the reader…or the reader may not give a rip whether the relationship works out or falls apart.
Maybe it’s a reflection of tThe author and his feelings of inadequacy, but both male protagonists have the inability to be even slightly wise when it comes to relationships. It doesn’t pass the smell test from my life’s experience.
Also, how can the two heroes be so good at what they do when they make so many curiously elementary mistakes. Then become almost demigods in their elaborate schemes that work out against all odds?
I’m getting tired of so much wordage about halyards, sails and whatnot. After many repetitions in every book. I’d rather that had been cut and the skipped events added to the book to give some detail on how ‘everything’ worked out, instead of going to the next chapter and…all of a sudden the ship is in port and, voila! everything worked out (the difficult report to a senior, or a whole campaign has been completed…or…).
Also, I know this is not a romance novel or I wouldn’t be reading it. But to have babies you must have, er, s***** relations which is skipped. Also, there is no real emotional attachments formed, just stiff upper lip discussions and an occasional ‘glance with understanding’ passing between a man and woman. Give us a break and help develop the attachment for the reader…or the reader may not give a rip whether the relationship works out or falls apart.
October 23, 2021
A Good Read
This series is truly a great work of British naval history combined with fiction to the point of not being able to divide the two. The two now post Captains are historically on a collision course. One Carlisle an American, already in a situation is something only his acts have overcome. This novel set in 1760s is only 10 or so years from the colonies becoming restless. While on the other side is thoroughly British Holbrooke. Where will the situation of national loyalty play into this? I can only imagine... but must wait for Mr. Dublin to weave this tale. I can hardly wait!!
Ellis Knox, Texas
This series is truly a great work of British naval history combined with fiction to the point of not being able to divide the two. The two now post Captains are historically on a collision course. One Carlisle an American, already in a situation is something only his acts have overcome. This novel set in 1760s is only 10 or so years from the colonies becoming restless. While on the other side is thoroughly British Holbrooke. Where will the situation of national loyalty play into this? I can only imagine... but must wait for Mr. Dublin to weave this tale. I can hardly wait!!
Ellis Knox, Texas
October 22, 2021
Best book of the series
As the title suggests I found this book to be the best in the series to date. Naval action was good, there were enough setbacks to make you wonder if Holbrooke would pull it out. The real greatness lies in the fabulous character development, where we find our hero facing dilemmas many in the modern age know so well.
As the title suggests I found this book to be the best in the series to date. Naval action was good, there were enough setbacks to make you wonder if Holbrooke would pull it out. The real greatness lies in the fabulous character development, where we find our hero facing dilemmas many in the modern age know so well.
November 19, 2021
A work of true genius
I have read and thoroughly enjoyed every book in this series. I am awed by the depth of knowledge and research in the work and would recommend it to all who have an interest in naval history. Series makes this old Quartermaster Gunner wish he had been alive in those days.
I have read and thoroughly enjoyed every book in this series. I am awed by the depth of knowledge and research in the work and would recommend it to all who have an interest in naval history. Series makes this old Quartermaster Gunner wish he had been alive in those days.
September 15, 2021
Time to say goodbye
I read the 10 books in the series, one after the other. Enjoyed them all and particularly the tutorials offered on the strategies underlying the story. Always prefer reality which always exceeds fiction and these books skillfully conjoined the two.
I read the 10 books in the series, one after the other. Enjoyed them all and particularly the tutorials offered on the strategies underlying the story. Always prefer reality which always exceeds fiction and these books skillfully conjoined the two.
October 25, 2021
Another great ,Carlisle & Holbrooke adventure.
Congratulations Mr. Durbin in portraying life at Sea and land in
1760. The naval battle scenes off the coast of Ireland, Scotland and Wales was incredible.
Congratulations Mr. Durbin in portraying life at Sea and land in
1760. The naval battle scenes off the coast of Ireland, Scotland and Wales was incredible.
December 7, 2021
Holbrook finally gets command of a frigate "Argonaut" and uses it to chase French privateers from the Irish sea. He and Anne marry and are expecting. They buy a house close to Ann's father and stepmother.
July 10, 2023
A new aspect of the Seven Years War
A different area of the Seven Years War, for me. The story goes a bit more into their thoughts. A radar scope (PPI) and a wind rose would have bee nice. The charts are helpful.
A different area of the Seven Years War, for me. The story goes a bit more into their thoughts. A radar scope (PPI) and a wind rose would have bee nice. The charts are helpful.
August 25, 2024
Love this series
I've been following the adventures of these two Captains since the first book. I truly enjoy the historical aspects of this series as well as the development and naval careers of its subjects.
I've been following the adventures of these two Captains since the first book. I truly enjoy the historical aspects of this series as well as the development and naval careers of its subjects.
September 24, 2021
A really excellent series ! I'll look forward to more from this fine wordcrafter.
January 3, 2022
Interesting history
Very interesting account of the naval war between England and French in the 18th century. Seems to be very accurate.
Very interesting account of the naval war between England and French in the 18th century. Seems to be very accurate.
January 18, 2022
Another Satisfying Installment
Another satisfying installment of the series, lively and well-researched. I am looking forward to reading the next and all that follow.
Another satisfying installment of the series, lively and well-researched. I am looking forward to reading the next and all that follow.
Read
May 3, 2022Another great read
I'm hooked on the series and it's characters. Another great addition to the series played out on a large canvas. Couldn't put it down.
I'm hooked on the series and it's characters. Another great addition to the series played out on a large canvas. Couldn't put it down.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews