C. S. Forester Knihy

A Horatio Hornblower Tale of the Sea May, 1810 - and thirty-nine-year-old Captain Horatio Hornblower has been handed his first ship of the line . . . Though the seventy-four-gun HMS Sutherland is 'the ugliest and least desirable two-decker in the Navy' and a crew shortage means he must recruit two hundred and fifty landlubbers, Hornblower knows that by the time Sutherland and her squadron reach the blockaded Catalonian coast every seaman will do his duty. But with daring raids against the French army and navy to be made, it will take all Hornblower's seamanship - and stewardship - to steer a steady course to victory and home . . . This is the sixth of eleven books chronicling the adventures of C. S. Forester's inimitable nautical hero, Horatio Hornblower. 'I recommend Forester to every literate I know' Ernest Hemingway

The nineteenth century dawns and the Napoleonic Wars rage as Horatio Hornblower faces the fury of the French and Spanish fleets combined. Amidst the hissing of wet wads, the stifling heat of white-hot cannonshot and the clamour of a mutinous crew, new Lieutenant Hornblower will need all of his seafaring cunning to overcome his first challenge in independent command on the high seas. And while blood and violence flow thick and fast aboard a beleaguered HMS Renown, the aftermath of war promises intrigue of an entirely different order: Maria, a young senorita, who might just soften the steely resolve of a young lieutenant. This is the second of eleven books chronicling the adventures of C. S. Forester's inimitable nautical hero, Horatio Hornblower."

Commodore Hornblower (1945) začíná tím, jak spolu Horatio a Barbara žijí jako manželé na malém panství ve Smallbridge. Román popisuje květen až říjen 1812. Hornblower je povýšen na komodora a má za úkol se svou malou eskadrou pronásledovat francouzské síly v Baltském moři, chránit britskénámořní cesty a vyvíjet diplomatický tlak na Švédy a Rusy pro britské zájmy. Jeho vlajkovou lodí je Nonsuch (74 děl) a jeho vlajkový kapitán je jednonohý Bush. Získá kořist a zničí francouzského piráta s lodí Blanchefleur. Potom se plaví na ruskou námořní základnu do Kronstadtu, kde ztuhne nad plánem ruského cara, jak vzdorovat Napoleonovi - zapálit Moskvu. Zmaří pokus zavraždit cara a švédského prince. Při jedné večeři se trochu opije a skončí v posteli hraběnky Canerine. Při pohlavním styku od ní dostane blechy. V Rize bojuje po boku pruského plukovníka von Clausewitze, vynikajícího stratéga, jež zběhl z pruské armády po jejím připojení se k Napoleonovi. Hornblower nesmírně pomůže Rusům, když ostřeluje z moře Napoleonovu armádu pod velením generála Macdonalda. Dále bojuje na zemi po boku Clausewitze. Po Bonapartově nezdaru a ústupu od Moskvy přesvědčí pruské velitele, aby se oddělili od Napoleona. Tím hodně přispěl k obratu ve válce. Je ale velice vyčerpaný a navíc onemocněl tyfem. Bush se vrací s eskadrou bez něho, komodor připluje, až se uzdraví.

A Horatio Hornblower Tale of the Sea June, 1808 - and off the Coast of Nicaragua Captain Horatio Hornblower has his hands full . . . Now in command of HMS Lydia, a thirty-six-gun frigate, Hornblower has instructions to form an alliance against the Spanish colonies with a mad and messianic revolutionary, El Supremo; to find a water route across the Central American isthmus; and 'to take, sink, burn or destroy' the fifty-gun Spanish ship of the line Natividad - or face court-martial. And as if he did not have enough trouble, Hornblower must also contend with the beguiling charms of an unwanted passenger: Lady Barbara Wellesley . . . This is the fifth of eleven books chronicling the adventures of C. S. Forester's inimitable nautical hero, Horatio Hornblower. 'I find Hornblower admirable, vastly entertaining' Sir Winston Churchill

The book John Kelly reads every time he gets a promotion to remind him of `the perils of hubris, the pitfalls of patriotism and duty unaccompanied by critical thinking' The most vivid, moving - and devastating - word-portrait of a World War One British commander ever written, here re-introduced by Max Hastings.

The African Queen is an old, dirty, ugly, unreliable steamboat. No one would expect a missionary's sister & a rough, uneducated mechanic to take a boat like that down a dangerous river through the forests of Central Africa. But Rose Sayer & Charlie Allnutt do just that. The First World War has just begun, & Rose has a crazy plan.

The books are graded at six vocabulary levels, ranging from 400 words (Beginning) to 2,500 words

One vital convoy can break Mussolini's stranglehold on Malta - but it is intercepted in the Mediterranean by enemy warships... This title recounts life aboard a British warship during some of the darkest days of the Second World War.