The sixth instalment in the eleven-part Horatio Hornblower series, A Ship of the Line sees the return of 39-year-old Captain Hornblower as he embarks upon a new adventure on the Catalonian coast. Having successfully defeated the Natividad Ship in battle, Horatio is awarded command of HMS Sutherland. Estimated to be the 'the ugliest and least desirable two-decker in the Navy List,' Hornblower's first ship of the...
line is far from becoming the vessel of his dreams, and being 250 men short of a full crew, the captain is forced to enlist and train a rabble of 'poachers, bigamists and sheep stealers.'
Seventeen years into the Napoleonic wars, Hornblower cannot afford to pause or make mistakes and the pressure soon mounts as the French approach the Catalonian shores.
Winner of the 1938 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction, A Ship of the Line delivers an action-packed seafaring adventure as one of the nation's favourite captains takes the lead once again.
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