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    The Mauritius Command
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    The Mauritius Command
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    The Mauritius Command
    Audiobook (abridged)2 hours

    The Mauritius Command

    Written by Patrick O’Brian

    Narrated by Robert Hardy

    4/5

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    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this audiobook

    Can Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew defy the odds, and outmanoeuvre the French, to take two small but vital islands in the Indian Ocean?

    Life ashore on half pay, despite the joys of family life, is unlikely to satisfy a man of action such as Jack Aubrey. The sea calls to him. And so, when his friend, ship’s surgeon and secret agent Stephen Maturin, arrives with secret orders, Aubrey soon finds himself in command of a frigate and setting sail for the Cape of Good Hope.

    But, in Nelson’s navy, there are as many enemies within as without.

    ‘A few books work their way . . . onto [bestseller] lists by genuine, lasting excellence – witness The Lord of the Rings, or Patrick O’Brian’s sea stories.’
    URSULA K. LE GUIN

    ‘I devoured Patrick O’Brian’s twenty-volume masterpiece as if it had been so many tots of Jamaica grog.’
    CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 15, 2005
    ISBN9780007217328
    Unavailable
    The Mauritius Command
    Author

    Patrick O’Brian

    Patrick O’Brian was born in 1914 and published his first book, Caesar, when he was only fifteen. In the 1960s he began work on the idea that, over the next four decades, evolved into the twenty-novel long Aubrey–Maturin series (with an extra unfinished volume published posthumously). In 1995 he was awarded the CBE, and in 1997 he received an honorary doctorate of letters from Trinity College, Dublin. He died in January 2000 at the age of 85.

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    Reviews for The Mauritius Command

    4/5

    721 ratings18 reviews

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    • 2/5
      If I had started with this one, I never would have picked up another. I couldn't make sense of the action--it was either overly summarized, or maybe occurring off screen and never explained, I'm not even sure what, because I just couldn't follow it. In the previous books, you are in the action minute by minute, and even if, like Stephen Maturin or myself, you don't know a forecastle from a mizzenmast, you get what is going on. Here, I still don't know what happened. Throw in a captain who was murdered and tossed overboard off screen and you have to wonder, why bother to tell this story if you are not going to show it?
    • 4/5
      I learned that a Commodore is a post, not a position like Captain; so when the activity is completed, one goes back to being a captain. Also how frustrating it can be to prepare carefully for a battle, only to have it never happen because of behind-the-scenes negotiations. There is enough in the book that isn't about the technical terms of sailing to make it interesting to someone like me. A quote I liked:... The clock also came from Mapes, the most accurate clock in the county.'A handsome clock it is too,' said Stephen. 'A regulator, I believe. Could it not be set a-going?''Oh, no sir,' said Mrs Williams with a pitying look. 'Was it set a-going, the works would instantly start to wear.' [p. 26]
    • 3/5
      Plenty of reviews on this, so my summation for my future memory loss is: A good read, interesting sea adventure, a bit disappointing at the end and left me empty.I wonder if my reaction to this one is because the author was staying as close as possible to the facts of an actual naval battle which took place in Mauritius? Therefore his characters had to conform somewhat to the facts instead of being the heroic figures I wanted them to be? Anyway, it was still a very interesting read.
    • 3/5
      “...for very strangely his officers looked upon Jack Aubrey as a moral figure, in spite of all proofs of the contrary...”In many respects this book marks a sea change in the characters of Stephen Maturin and in particular Jack Aubrey. They are older and less energetic than in previous books and Jack in particular seems less gung-ho. In fact the book opens with Aubrey as a fairly ineffective home-owner, husband and father. Both he and his wife wishes to see him back soon in his true element, at sea.Jack gets his wish, he is to take charge of a frigate, hang a commodore's pendant on it signifying that Jack is to command a squadron, and head out to the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and La Reunion. These strategic islands are being used by the French as bases to attack and seize British vessels en-route home from the India. This fight is over wealth rather than true military value. Jack is given the task of overseeing the capture of these islands. As usual Stephen sails with his friend.However, in truth it is probably two minor characters that are more significant. Captain Corbett, a vicious "flogging captain" whose idea of discipline is so severe that the men under his command are threatening to turn mutinous, and Lord Clonfert, a son of an Irish aristocrat with whom Jack once served as a youngster but despite being a favourite of his betters has failed to match Jack's military success since much to Clonfert's chagrin. The difficulties with Corbett are fairly straight forward but Clonfert is a different case altogether. Clonfert in contrast is loved by his men but in truth is fairly ineffective as a real leader. He mounts an all-out campaign to prove that he's just as good as his old shipmate, with disastrous results. Fortunately for Jack, he is also working closely with an army officer Colonel Keating whom is almost an army shadow as Jack and together they manage to overcome most of the obstacles in front of them placed their by their enemies on both sides.There is a certain humour in O'Brian's books that is perhaps less evident in other authors in the genre which is admirable. However, on the down side I find that the actual military action is fairly sparse and over far too quickly for my taste . So although this is a good read, too much time and effort has gone into getting the background information correct IMHO to make it a truly great read.
    • 5/5
      The Mauritius Command, fourth book in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, follows Captain Jack Aubrey as he and Stephen embark on a mission to retake islands off Mauritius and install a royal governor. Along the way, Admiral Bertie promotes Aubrey to commodore of the fleet, which offers insight into a different side of battles during the Napoleonic Wars, but also removes Aubrey from much of the immediate conflict, as he must oversee the entire fleet action. O'Brian's mastery of history is also on display here, as he begins the novel with a note: "In this case, the groundwork of the tale, a little-known campaign in the Indian Ocean, is factual...Apart from the necessary fictions at the beginning and the very end, he [the author] has not done anything to neaten history except for the omission of a few confusing, unimportant ships whose fleeting presence was neither here nor there." In that regard, The Mauritius Command is a resounding success and a wonderful addition to the Aubrey-Maturin series. This Folio Society edition, like the others in the series, includes illustrations from the period that portray events similar to those O'Brian describes in his narrative and the book itself makes a gorgeous addition to any bookshelf.
    • 5/5
      I'm realizing anew, this read-through of the Aubrey-Maturin novels, how much this series really depends on its fascinating array of guest stars, of which there are two in The Mauritius Command, both of great and sad importance: Captain Corbett, a vicious "flogging captain" whose idea of discipline is severe even by the standards of Nelson's navy, and Lord Clonfert, with whom Jack once served as a youngster but who hasn't done quite as well as Jack since. So, um, uh oh. We see trouble before we even meet the gentlemen in question.

      We meet them on Jack and Stephen's latest mission, to take charge of a frigate, hang a commodore's broad pendant on it (thus signifying that Jack is, at long last, to command a squadron!) and head out to the African islands of Mauritius and La Reunion, there to take these potentially highly strategic islands away from the French, who are doing rather a half-assed job of using them as a base for action in the Indian Ocean. Consult a quality atlas if this confuses.

      The action in The Mauritius Command highlights better than any we've seen so far just how much military vessels of this time period and since served as vast mobile artillery batteries. How else can ships take on an island? Float around and around in that effortless-looking way and unleash hell with the big guns on anything that looks like it might contain Frenchmen. Boom! And if the French are so bold and impetuous as to send out ships of their own to put a stop to this harassment, well, Commodore Lucky Jack Aubrey knows how to take care of those. This all goes off tolerably well, but for a couple problems, problems intimately tied in with the personalities of the two guest star captains I mentioned above. The trouble with Corbett is pretty straightforward; his crew are tired of getting fifty lashes every time a bit of tar plops down to mar the perfection of Corbett's decks and thus grow mutinous. The trouble with Clonfert....

      Ah, Clonfert. Lord Clonfert is one of the most fascinatingly tragic characters O'Brian has written. A son of the Irish aristocracy -- who are not considered Irish by the Irish and are not considered real aristocrats by the rest of their class in the U.K. -- he's already got a chip on his shoulder before Jack shows up on the scene. Once Jack does, Clonfert pretty much loses it (and he's bi-polar to boot, I should mention; his crew are used to his mood swings and tolerate them because sailors "dearly love a Lord", but Stephen and Clonfert's own surgeon spend a lot of the novel shaking their heads over Clonfert's case) and mounts an all-out campaign to prove that he's just as good as his old shipmate, with disastrous results.

      Fortunately, even as Jack is dealing with the consequences of having Corbett and Clonfert under his command, he is also working closely with an army colonel that is an infantry version of Jack himself, the capable and vaguely Sharpe-like Colonel Keating. Together they manage to overcome most of the obstacles created by the fractious captains. Most of them.

      For of course, no officer, however capable, has any control over what his superiors say or do, or where they show up, just in time to steal his thunder. Feeling outraged on Jack's behalf is, however, all part of the fun of reading these novels.

      And fun they most certainly are!
    • 4/5
      The fourth book in the Aubrey-Maturin novels, it feels like dropping by on old friends, for the first time in some while (to the point of wondering if I'd skipped a book accidentally).I found it a rollicking good read, but probably not where you'd start off someone new to the series.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this of course, yet I found it to be a little underwhelming. Story well told, movement on the Jack/Sophie front, but this could have been a straight ahead stand alone sea tale...not much to add to the story arc. From what I understand, the next book is the point in the series that they start to get truly great, which is scary to think of, as All four of these book so far have been great, this one just a bit less so.
    • 4/5
      Book number four in O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series, set on the high seas during the Napoleonic Wars. This time, the intrepid Captain Aubrey is given command of a squadron of ships and directed to attempt to take the island of Mauritius from the French.My one problem with this book is pretty much the same as with the previous books in the series: I have a lot of trouble following the action. I thought maybe I was getting better at that, but I'm not. It doesn't help that this one features a much larger number of ships and ships' captains to keep straight, either. Especially when a couple of the captains have similar names, and several of the British ships have French names, and ships seemed to be getting captured and changing hands almost constantly... At some point, I may have given up on ever being entirely clear just who was on what side. In fairness to O'Brian, though, he was being historically accurate, and I was being pretty dense. Which I often am about military action scenes. Still, it was a bit frustrating.Fortunately, this one also features the things I liked best about the earlier volumes. There is, perhaps, a bit less emphasis on Aubrey and Maturin and their friendship, but there's still some pretty good character stuff. There's also a lot of wonderful, droll humor. Nothing nearly as laugh-out-loud funny as the sloth incident from the previous book -- I'll be surprised if the series ever tops that -- but a lot of quietly amusing moments.I will definitely be carrying on with this series, in any case, even if I am making my way through it very slowly.
    • 4/5
      When the fourth book of the Aubrey-Maturin series begins, Jack Aubrey is land-bound at his cottage in England. Married life is agreeing with him, overall, and yet ... he misses the ocean, the cottage is overcrowded, and he's living on half wages. Stephen shows up and soon, they have a mission which will send them halfway around the world to Mauritius to fight the French again. The strengths: As always, the friendship between Jack and StephenO'Brian's wonderful descriptions of everything; I could feel the bustling claustrophobia of Jack's cottageStephen's often-thwarted attempts to collect wildlife specimens in the exotic places he visitsThe weaknesses:With Jack often being at a distance from the action, it wasn't as excitingSomehow, the book's pacing felt odd - both rushed and with long periods of not much happeningIt was a good book, not stellar. But it's a long series, and HMS Surprise was absolutely wonderful, so this one suffers in comparison. Recommended for: anyone already embarked on the series, fans of buddy road-moviesQuote: "'The coffee has a damned odd taste.''This I attribute to the excrement of rats. Rats have eaten our entire stock; and I take the present brew to be a mixture of the scrapings at the bottom of the sack.''I thought it had a familiar tang,' said Jack."
    • 4/5
      In which Aubrey chafes while home at Ashgrove Cottage, apparently two years and more without a ship, until Maturin brings the good news of a command: lead a squadron of frigates to the Indian Ocean and the Cape. The ultimate objective is to retake the Mauritius from the French, whose presence (fortified by the ports there and at La Réunion) is a major nuisance for both the Admiralty and Indiamen. As Commodore, Aubrey's strategic acumen is tested more by his own side than by the adversary: jealousy among his captains, inferior naval forces despite willing & disciplined crews, his ability to lead stretched to the utmost by demands of psychology rather than of bravado ... all of these factors threaten the success of the mission. Maturin's intelligence role rises in importance, as he is charged with advising the Governor-designate, Farquhar, and undermining the French discipline on shore through political contacts and subversion.//Stephen's misadventures between ships continue. From Schuyler's Butcher's Bill, two separate instances of Rescued and Injured: "Stephen Maturin, who falls into the sea while attempting to board the Néréide. Two ribs cracked, stunned, and inflammation of the lungs" and later, "Stephen Maturin, in attempting to board Boadicea at sea from the Pearl. He is caught in the rigging of both ships, then falls to the sea. He suffers barnacle scrapes and bruises."Jack's news of his newborn son softens the blow of Admiral Bertie arriving just before Jack can assure his victory, and his resulting magnanimity in turn allows Bertie to grant him the plum assignment of bearing the good news back to England. Admittedly, Stephen's cunning plays a part here, too.Consulting Seltzer's chronology: Events open in late 1808 or early 1809, and end with the French capitulation at the end of 1810. Aubrey here stands in for Commodore Rowley, in terms of the role and command, rather than O'Brian's favoured Lord Cochrane.
    • 5/5
      I have read and enjoyed many of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series in the past, and have always found them enjoyable. It had probably been at least a year since I had read one when I found a copy of the Mauritius Command. This book absolutly reinforces my opinion of this series. The characters, the action, and the historic background all contribute to a delightful book. The Aubrey-Maturin series is great overall, and this book is as good as any of them.
    • 4/5
      Jack is triumphant in this latest installment. He's married and a father and finally back in a ship. Mr. O'Brian fictionalizes the very real tale of the taking of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. I particularly liked seeing Jack - how his sense of success pervades the command - how the force of his personality carries all along. Steven, by contrast, is more thoughtful - but not necessarily happier or more successful because of his intellect.
    • 5/5
      This is the fourth book in the famous Aubrey/Maturin sea-faring series. I can't express enough how much I enjoy this series. O'Brian has such a knack for detail, and making the reader feel as if he/she were really there. I hope to eventually read all the books in the series; I like to spread them out a bit so I don't over do it!
    • 4/5
      Another good episode in the story. This one focuses more on the naval action; there's very little of the shore life or the Sophia/Diana aspects in this volume.
    • 4/5
      Brilliant, as always.
    • 5/5
      I do enter upon my rereadings of Patrick O'Brian books with an open mind. I am willing to give fewer than five stars to each book before I reread it. However, at some point, sweeping down upon the blaggardly French under a great press of sail, foreboding the ruin of a tragically flawed officer, or smiling at Aubrey's sweet simplicity, it becomes impossible not to give it every star at my command.Mauritius Command is a particularly cohesive volume, more united in purpose than most, comprising as it does one fictionalized campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. An intimidating military and political undertaking, requiring Maturin's cunning, Aubrey's nautical genius, and something in which Aubrey has never been tested: facility for high command.
    • 3/5
      I've heard so, so many good things about Patrick O'Brian's seafaring series, so I gave this one a go. As much as I admire the historical detail, characterizations, elegant prose and stirring themes, I just didn't have enough interest in mizzenmasts and forecastles to make a go of this.