A few weeks ago esteven pointed me towards The Sea Painter's World, a recent publication from maritime artist Geoff Hunt which includes this rather lovely picture of HMS Hotspur off Brest. What caught my eye wasn't the Hotspur herself though, but the promontory on her larboard quarter. That is Conguet Point or Le Conquet, with the ruins of the St Mathieu ( Read more... )

More marital advice, this time for the gentlemen. I think a certain Mr Hornblower might have benefitted from these "Hints for Bridegrooms" published by the Perth Sunday Times in 1904.

"Don’t have a frozen grin on your face. Neither show a stern Napoleonic air, as if you were determined to see the thing through or die ( Read more... )

Title: My Dear
Author: Anteros
Characters: Hornblower / Maria, Hornblower / (Kennedy)
Rating: PG
Notes: Another weird book - tv series hybrid, incorporating bits of Retribution, Lieutenant Hornblower and Hornblower and the Hotspur. It's as cheerful as you might expect :/ DKU.

( Adored idol...dearest...darling beloved... )

I finished Hotspur last week. Brilliant.

( He was working into a worse and worse temper. )

Yesterday I posted that summary of Lieutenant Jackson's extraordinary account of his time as a French prisoner of war following the capture of this ship Junon in 1809 by the French frigates Renommée and Clorinde. Then last night while reading Hotspur what do I find but Hornblower's sloop narrowly avoiding being blown to pieces by an unnamed ( Read more... )

While writing The Wrong Trousers I had to do some research to find out how tall Horatio is and Bush are Kennedy aren't. (See? I research my crackfic!) According to imdb.com Ioan Gruffudd is 5'11". I thought he was taller. Must be something to do with the company he keeps. However I am prepared to accept the veracity of imdb.com given that it ( Read more... )

So I’ve started reading Hornblower and the Hotspur now and, leaving aside the tragedy of Maria, I’m finding it immensely entertaining and really very funny in places. The disastrous breakfast in particular made me laugh out loud. The whole fiasco reads like a missing episode of Fawlty Towers with Hornblower as Basil Fawlty, seething with barely ( Read more... )