The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower

by C. Northcote Parkinson

In this acclaimed fictional biography of C.S. Forester's famous character, Cecil Northcote Parkinson chronicles the rise to eminence of the Royal Navy's Horatio Hornblower, from midshipman in 1794 to revered Admiral of the Fleet in 1847.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Nautical, War, Action, Military Fiction, Maritime

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Cyril Northcote Parkinson was a naval historian and author of some sixty books. He was educated at Cambridge, and went on to teach in Malaya, and in the United States at Harvard and in Illinois.

He was an important scholar in the field of public administration.

His most famous work is Parkinson’s Law, or The Pursuit of Progress.

Reviews

[David Eppenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a surprising little find if I do say. I don't recall where I found this book but since it was published in 1970 I can only imagine I found it in a used bookstore that I frequent. I always assumed it was a book about life in the British Navy during the Napoleonic Era much like "Patrick O'Brian's Navy", another book I have on the same subject. I was wrong. While it does detail some information of navy life at that time it is actually a biography of Horatio Hornblower. Wait! A biography of Horatio Hornblower you say! Isn't Hornblower a fictional character create by C.S. Forester? Well that's what I always thought. As a fan of this genre of fiction I now find myself really embarrassed to admit not knowing that Hornblower was a real person. I always thought him a fictional character that may have been based on a real person just as O'Brian's Capt. Jack Aubrey was based on Cochrane. Now I was really intrigued so I did some research. Wikipedia said Hornblower was fiction. Now what is going on? This book is really a good biography and the late author was no lightweight. The detail and obvious research done for this book is quite extensive. Well, to my further embarrassment, I failed to read the dust jacket which mentions that it is a FICTIONAL biography of Horatio Hornblower. I need to read these dust jackets more often and more closely even if the book is found at a half priced bookstore and a real bargain. But the book is a really good and thorough biography. It's so good in fact that even knowing that it is fiction I still can't help but doubt that it is fiction. I even tried researching some of the footnotes the author cites as authority for his statements but failed to track any of them down. I guess I have been fooled so completely that I can't believe the truth even when it is presented to me. Could a better endorsement of the book be had? I think not.

[Deb Oestreicher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fictional biography was highly entertaining, not least for its fabricated biographers' obstacles (e.g., buildings (entirely invented by the author) no longer standing, papers (also invented) somehow gone missing...) The book offers a lovely opportunity to revisit the adventures of the Hornblower novels in the context of a whole life--Northcote comes up with persuasive backstory to provide a foundation for Horatio's aptitudes (he comes from a family of engineers), and also provides some background on the politics of naval promotion in the late 18th and early 19th century, which puts the rate of Hornblower's advancement in useful context. Northcote also skillfully interweaves fictional and actual naval history, so that he gives Hornblower opinions about the Crimean War (which have no place in the novels), steamships, and so forth. Altogether, very well done.

[Hugh Gleysteen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s fun and stuff but I’m glad I looked at the other reviews before I went out in public thinking horatio hornblower was a real figure.

Had me fooled, and was a fun ride.

[Owen Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

As it happens, there really was a Horatio Hornblower and this book covers his life in the more formal perspective of a biography. It's somewhat surprising to see that Hornblower's "other" biographer, C. S. Forester, stuck pretty close to the known facts in his fictionalized treatment of the Admiral's life. I say "somewhat" because the author of the biography, C. Northcote Parkinson - the same man who coined "Parkinson's Law" - had access to some papers that Forester did not. Mr. Parkinson happily provides a good preface to the work wherein he gives C. S. Forester full credit for his work as well as giving an account of the writing of the formal biography.

There is new material in this biography not covered in the novels. There is good coverage of Hornblower's early life up to the time of his joining the Justinian as a midshipmen. Parkinson's treatment of the flag incident is sublime being both succinct and complete as well as presenting a particular problem and Hornblower's solution of it. Not surprisingly, Parkinson also covers Hornblower's old age, retirement and family. He does not indulge in the psychological analysis so beloved by more modern biographers and the book is the better for it as there is less implicit judgment of his subject. That is not to say there is no judgment, there certainly is, it's just more open and honest.

The book (I have the Penguin version, reprinted in 1973) includes a number of photographs, some maps and a few verbatim letters and 6 appendices making up a total of 300 pages.

This biography stands well on its own and makes a very satisfying accompaniment to the well known novels. I am less pleased with the movie and TV versions due to the usual Hollywood treatment (why do movie makers feel so compelled to rewrite the work of better writers than themselves??) but that's not a matter for this review.

I highly recommend this book to any Hornblower fan and even to those who are not fans.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Biography of a fictional hero how novel. I loved the Hornblower books and while this is okay it covers a lot of minutia, like he and Barbara’s love life, that were not covered in the books for good reason in that it’s not that interesting to the people who like the books. .

[Cindy Vallar · Rating 4 out of 5]

When writers create stories and populate them with characters, it’s necessary to also flesh out details about who these people are and why they are as they appear in the books. This allows the authors to craft believable characters and readers to see them as “real” people. One such character who has stood the test of time is C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower, whose life unfolded over thirty years in twelve books. Forester pieced together Hornblower’s life from documentary evidence that the admiral’s descendant donated to the Royal Navy College, Greenwich in 1927.

In 1970, Parkinson discovered that three boxes of new material about Viscount Horatio Hornblower had come to light. The admiral had refused to permit these papers to be seen by others until 100 years after his death. The problem came in tracking down these containers since the companies to which they were originally entrusted had undergone change during that time lapse. What Parkinson eventually found were details that filled in gaps left by Forester’s accounts of Hornblower’s life. So much was new that Parkinson decided to write a biography about this legendary character.

A biography is defined as the history of a person’s life, and that person is someone who actually lived. For all intents and purposes, this book is an actual biography complete with appendices, correspondence, illustrations, a family tree, diagrams, and maps. It is also indexed and one illustration is of a title page of a book that Hornblower owned and signed. The twelve chapters chronicle his life from Schoolboy to Midshipman to Lieutenant all the way through his achieving Admiral of the Fleet. Much of the book focuses on his naval career, but there are also personal moments, such as his marriage to his landlady’s daughter, his children, and the loves of his life, one of whom was related to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington.

This book is a compelling read and a must for those who have enjoyed the Hornblower novels, or those unfamiliar with the first edition published in 1970, and those who know Horatio Hornblower only through the movies that illustrate his early exploits. You will not be disappointed and you will most likely learn new details about this fascinating, though fictional, admiral.


(This review first appeared at Pirates and Privateers: http://www.cindyvallar.com/Parkinson....)

[Michael Koch · Rating 2 out of 5]

In my opinion, this book was written by a Hornblower enthusiast who felt there must be more, so he made more. This may have filled his cravings but it is unlikely to fill yours. You may wish to stick with C. S. Forester, Hornblower’s original author. This author appears to have gone through all the Hornblower books and searched out all the bits of time where a memorable heroic act could be inserted. He has then created heroic acts to insert. This goes back to Hornblower’s childhood where minor activities can hardly be considered as memorable.

He then describes the acts but does not pretend to write about them in any heroic manner like Forester. Having a independent captain describe how unusual and dramatic it was for his frigate to sink two ships of the line, might have saved him from an embarrassing social scene. It might also have given him an excuse to meet the woman who would become his second wife (after he had been widowered). However, it tells nothing about the drama or heroism or Hornblower’s specific actions that brought the battle to its victorious close. In some of the situations described, we are told that Hornblower is victorious as a result of ruse or slight of hand; this is consistent with what we learn from Forester.

The fictitious documents, artwork and maps must have caused the author considerable effort. I applaud his work in these areas, including those areas where he admits that places or things have been lost.

I certainly recognize the effort made by Northcote to complete this work. Sadly however, I suggest again, the start reader stick with Forester. Truly dedicated fans may appreciate another fan’s efforts to extend Hornblower’s story and life.
Two stars

[Stuart Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fictional biography of Horatio Hornblower. Supplemented by fictional letters from fictional characters covering some of the gaps in the Hornblower Saga, written by a biographer who has discovered a cache of Hornblower's lost papers. Really well written, the events covered in C.S. Forester's books are given a quick synopsis while the events not covered are covered in detail. These are well done and very interesting, and fit well within the the canon. Some questions are answered about the backgrounds of important characters which explain their actions, and much time spent delving into Hornblower's somewhat mysterious background and his later days. The addition of Hornblower's nephew adds much to the history, and the life of Hornblower's son is also covered. Even covers the Hornblower family line, from his Grandfather right down to the present Viscount Hornblower. An entertaining book even to those who have not read the Forester books. This would have received five stars if not for the letter from Hornblower at the end which answers some questions better left unanswered.

[Peter Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Hornblower when I was a teenager, and have remained a fan long into adulthood. I'd heard of the fake biography by C Northcote Parkinson but never seen a copy until I came across this in a charity shop. And as a fan it's very entertaining. Much of it is a summary of the Forester novels, but I guess that was inevitable. Parkinson adds much after Hornblower's retirement in particular, making him a director of P&O and with a number of other projects that fit well with the character as written. The only part which perhaps rang a little false (to me at least) was the supposed long standing plan to buy Smallbridge Manor. I didn't get a sense from Forester's books that Hornblower would have been a man expecting to join the gentry, but maybe I'm bringing my own prejudices here. Still, an entertaining read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read the Horatio Hornblower series, but I think that would have been better, but despite starting this book with no background knowledge (and zero knowledge of anything Navy related), I found it very engaging and extremely interesting. I know this is historical fiction, but wow. Between the author’s depth of knowledge of the history in Britain from the late 18c to 19c and of naval history, I kept having to remind myself that this was not a carefully researched biography, but fiction. I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed this book.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is fiction. It reads like a biography of Hornblower dealing with incidents described in the Forester books, but adding childhood and post war events including his peerage and eventually his death. Parkinson bases his biography on the "discovery" of a wealth of Hornblower's papers, including the late addition of a letter which Hornblower left with his lawyers, to be opened 100 years after his death.
This was a good read if you have read Hornblower in the past.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Call in 2.49 stars. Marked down because it was a bit tedious at times.

Parkinson was, among other things, a naval historian and author of a series of novels set in the same period as the Hornblower novels. This book is a "fictional non-fiction biography" of Hornblower. Parkinson elaborates and expands on the story of HH's life as it can be gleaned from the 11 Hornblower books.

[Albert Meier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clever concept, executed quite well, but after a couple hundred pages it begins to drag. You're reading a recapitulation of stories you already know, so that is understandable. The additions of his early life, answering of unanswered questions, and the entire documentary premise for this "research" is well worth the read. Probably 4.5/5 stars, but worth rounding up.

[George Girton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this one with your maps app in hand. You'll need it because Horatio Hornblower traveled the globe. No spoilers, but has the best scene of marital reconciliation in all of naval warfare literature.

[Paa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful reference for the fans of Horatio Hornblower!

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could see my dad possibly liking this

[Reni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost DNF.

How times have changed. If you nowadays dare to even mention Hornblower in your own work of fiction the Forester estate will sue you to hell and back, but back in the 70's people could publish fictional biographies of the character!

I think The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower works best as a companion to the Hornblower novels. Not to be read before the novels, not to be read a while after, but best read while you're going through the stack. This is because this fake biography does a good job of putting the stories into their historical context. And context is again used to even explain away a couple of inconsistency and mistakes Forester happened to write into his books, which is an achievement on its own.

In fact, I do love this book for the work that went into it, connecting every little short story to a bit of history. And then there are all the drawings, maps and portraits that had to be created to illustrate this volume like a proper modern biography, not to mention that this work of fiction even comes with appendices, footnotes, an index and a short bibliography consisting of actual works of non-fiction.

With all these lovingly created extras you can understand why a couple of readers who had never heard of Hornblower before would become confused and believe the character to be an actual historical figure.


Sadly, apart from all that the text is pretty boring. Apart from the clever way the book ties in the fictional events with history and explains certain quirks of the characters with knowledge of the times they would have in the book holds little value to fans. Of course the next in its summaries of the events of the novels never reaches the excitement of these novels. And for those parts especially the reader is better off just reading the actual novels instead, and referring to The Life and Times only when they desire a quick summary of the historical and societal context of a chapter.

Even the bits that this text invents about Hornblower (as the novels didn't cover his whole life) on occasion read a bit lack-lustre. The text comes alive especially when the author invented from one character to another, and occasionally even to a historical figure, but it simply wasn't enough to keep me entertained over 300 pages.

As said, this would probably work much better if not read on its own, but during future re-reads of the Hornblower books.

Oh, and I take it one of the appendices occasionally causes a minor stir in Hornblower fandom, namely the letter in which Hornblower admits to not only having been the one to have thrown Captain Sawyer down the hatch, injuring him, but in which he admits to having intended to murder the man on two separate occasions.

I understand now why this keeps causing a stir. First of all, I find it somewhat out of character for Hornblower to not only write a letter confessing all of this (his conscience might have made him do it), but keeping that letter and having it delivered to a future descendant. I would have assumed he would have had that letter destroyed after his death, at least. I don’t have a problem, however, with believing that Hornblower did indeed throw the captain down the hatch (even the novel itself hinted very strongly at this, and Bush did keep asking – unlike the TV movies, whose narrative ultimately demands that the viewers believe Hornblower guilty, while the way the scene was actually portrayed always has me convinced that there’s no way TV!Hornblower did it… come to think of it, I like the series, but they really screwed up those two episodes royally). But sending in Wellard to “finish off” Sawyer during the fight with the Spanish prisoners kind of strikes me as out-of-character, even for someone as pragmatic as Hornblower.

So, no, I am not very fond of that appendix either, as are most fans, apparently.


I'd rate this book something between two and three stars, because it is pretty convincing as a fake biography, even if ultimately a lot more dry and unexciting than it needed to be (which is sad, because Mr Parkinson could write very wittily, even in genres where it didn't belong, like, um, actual biographies of real life people! :p). But, alas, goodreads forces me to decide between two and three stars, so I'm going with two, for now. Until I re-read the Hornblower novels, when I might change my rating to three stars if this fake bio proves as useful as I imagine it to be.

[Lucy Cokes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick note: this book is a work of fiction, and a supremely well executed one, too.

Parkinson writes the biography as if Hornblower was a real man, and it is clear that the amount of research that went into it really helped to urge the narrative along. Parkinson has been absurdly clever with the way he produces new evidence, paintings and images, all adding to the Hornblower legend.

As other reviewers have said, I think it is best to read this book during your reading of the Hornblower series. I've been reading the series since before 2012, and have only just (reluctantly) finished it. The biography provided me with an opportunity to recap the details of the novels in the series, while filling in gaps in-between as well. It has a good ending to Hornblower's story, rounding everything off in a way that Forester did not have the opportunity to do. It actually bought tears to my eyes when reading about Hornblower's eventual death.

I have to agree with others that the revelations in the appendix are quit out of character for Hornblower, and where I did not completely agree with them, that particular part of the appendix can be ignored in the context of the overall story.

Other readers have commented that the biography is actually quite dry: however, this fictional work of non-fiction had me entranced, and I thought the very nature of it would be dry (as a piece of non-fiction) so further convinced me that this biography was in fact, real.

It is masterfully created, and it would be interesting if this 'fictional biography' thing occurred more often...though of course copyright gets in the way nowadays.

This must be the best bit of fan fiction I've ever read.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is best known for his classic on politics, management, and economic psychology, Parkinson’s Law, but he also wrote a number of books in military and naval history, and was, in fact, a professor of history at Harvard, among other places. He was also a great admirer of one of the Royal Navy’s foremost heroes in the wars against the French Revolution and Napoleon, and was fortunate (he says) to have come across a trove of letters and documents deposited by Admiral the Viscount Hornblower, to be released a century after his death -- which was 1957. Thus, we now know Hornblower’s own thoughts on his career, about his fellow naval officers, and regarding other relevant events of the day -- and, most important, just what happened to the young man’s commanding officer in Lieutenant Hornblower. Parkinson does a lovely job of leading the reader through a carefully orchestrated mix of real and fictional history (as C. S. Forester himself did) and fans of the series, and of naval historical fiction generally, will enjoy the journey.

[David Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

After seeing my copy of this, my father said, "I had always thought Hornblower was fiction." Well, yes.

Parkinson's book is quite fun. He faced challenges in ironing out a story that had been composed out of sequence, with inconsistencies. But he finds ways to take advantage--showing Hornblower to be the beneficiary of outrageous Wellesley-granted Old Corruption in getting Bush as commander of a 74 within 12 months of gaining post rank, for example. And he suggests that the title was also the result of shameless begging.

The contextualization of Hornblower--suggesting that he was more of a proto-Victorian than a true figure of the his time anticipates Patrick O'Brian's creation of Aubrey as the antithesis of Hornblower's pained virtue.

Forester often seems unsophisticated compared to O'Brian, but one instance here, where Parkinson 'solves' an outstanding question actually highlights Forester's effectiveness in having left it vague.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read and enjoyed the entire Horatio Hornblower series, but found the majority of this mock biography to be exceedingly dull. I found the writing style to be quite dry. I had some interest in the early account of Hornblower's life pre-Navy, but after that, much of it, of course, is just a quick retelling of the series, and I didn't enjoy most of the in-between tidbits. By the end of the book, I was skimming and just waiting for the thing to be done. I absolutely did not like the appendix answering the Captain Sawyer question, multiple things about it that I found out of character. No interest in ever reading this book again.

[Curtiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This incorporates the entertaining conceit that C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower was a real-life naval hero, instead of a fictitious character modeled on the career of Admiral Lord Cochrane.

It follows the purported real-life career of Hornblower from his childhood as a doctor's son, his first entry into the service, and fills in the gaps of Forester's 11-volume chronicle throughout his subsequent nabval career.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't get me started on Hornblower.

This book treats him as though he were real in an entirely amusing way. It is pretty good and a wonderful companion to the hornblower series. C. Northcote Parkinson is another nautical writer. I've read another of his books. Life and Times is really good and I recommend it to fans of Hornblower.

[Chris Callaway · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reached the 100 page mark and punted. The idea of a biography of a literary character was interesting, and Northcote knows his Royal Navy stuff. But he doesn't give much narrative detail to make Hornblower's adventurous life come to detail. Instead, you get a stereotypically British, understated detachment. Nor do you get much psychological exploration of Hornblower's character.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the conceit of this book, a biography of an entirely fictional character. I enjoyed the imagined details regarding Hornblower's later life, and the faux correspondence it includes. But I dislike the dry recollections of battles and events that happened in far more lively fashion in the pages of the actual Hornblower novels.

[Rod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, an honest, complete description of the great (though flawed) admiral's life. Thanks to this work, his estate at Boxley House may become as well visited by tourists as the rooms at 221B Baker Street, home of the great consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes.

[Michael Plas · Rating 2 out of 5]

It sounded much better than it actually is. The writing is a bit dry. I realize that this is a fictional biography, but still it requires some sort of storytelling. I did appreciate the analysis of certain disputed questions from the books.

[Joyce Reynolds-Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting summary of the Hornblower canon if you've only read one or two of the books and want to know the entire arc of Hornblower's career. If I was more of a Hornblower follower I'd probably find a lot more in-jokes and references than I did.

[Jrohde · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing - this guy was a real person - I love the entire series which I reread to relax - far better than the Albury series

[Vicarage]

Two copies