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Having obtained a position on the Glatton, Richard Delancey is soon to see action in the Battle of Camperdown. But the Nore and Spithead mutinies intervene to upset the course of his career. He devises an original legal defense in the court martial of a fellow officer accused of murder, and acquits himself well, but falls afoul of the naval establishment and is passed over in the general promotion of all in his rank.

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

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About the author

C. Northcote Parkinson

86 books49 followers
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.

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5 stars
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47 (41%)
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20 (17%)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Profile Image for Art the Turtle of Amazing Girth.
812 reviews25 followers
June 29, 2024
more of a 2.9

Just not very good, it's obviously part of a series, and so the initial world building is weak and the close out is equally weak

Not much character growth, a bit, but not much

Just another 1975 book that falls short of being average
Profile Image for Studebhawk.
327 reviews4 followers
July 20, 2017
The Adventure and the Story Continues.

This series continues at a pace full of adventure and intrigue for even the most casual reader. I read book #2 & book #3 as one continuing story line. As such, I submit the same review for both here.
What I find notable about this series is the depth and complexity of the story line. In many ways the story takes on more complexity as we get more information of the time and place of this series in history. To this degree, our hero has obviously grown in ability and accomplishment, but, he still remains somewhat of a mystery. We see so little of his personal history and his story. We see, how even with all of his success, our hero never quite measures up to his fellows in the Navy who can claim noble connections. The real story of these early books in the series is the British Navy. The history, strategy and tactics of sailing warships at sea, and the men who manned, fought, and died on them remains the story here. This is understandable given that the author has a background in naval history of this period with the British Navy in particular.
This series remains a good read, and I look forward to our hero’s new adventures.
Profile Image for Janine Southard.
Author 17 books82 followers
January 17, 2011
I didn't get past chapter two of this book...but I feel guilty giving it less than two stars because it's book three in a series of which I haven't tried books one or two. For all I know, the first chapter's massive info-dump is simply a "previously on The Richard Delancey Novels."

The overwhelming amount of "I don't care yet" backstory mixed with the 25-50% extraneous dialog leaves me unconvinced that I'd be a fan of book one, either. I will, however, pick it up and give it a go if I ever see it around. After all, this is the author who wrote Parkinson's Law.
Profile Image for Victoria Pond.
Author 10 books7 followers
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March 2, 2011
I didn't get past chapter two of this book...but I feel guilty giving it less than two stars because it's book three in a series of which I haven't tried books one or two. For all I know, the first chapter's massive info-dump is simply a "previously on The Richard Delancey Novels."

The overwhelming amount of "I don't care yet" backstory mixed with the 25-50% extraneous dialog leaves me unconvinced that I'd be a fan of book one, either. I will, however, pick it up and give it a go if I ever see it around. After all, this is the author who wrote Parkinson's Law.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews

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