Heart of Oak cover art

Heart of Oak

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Heart of Oak

By: Alexander Kent
Narrated by: Michael Jayston
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £14.67

Buy Now for £14.67

About this listen

It is February 1818, and Adam Bolitho longs for marriage and a safe personal harbour. But with so much of Britain's fleet redundant, he knows he is fortunate to be offered HMS Onward, a new 38-gun frigate whose first mission is not war but diplomacy, as consort to the French frigate Nautilus.

Under the burning sun of North Africa, Bolitho is keenly aware of the envy and ambition among his officers, the troubled, restless spirits of his midshipmen and the old enemy's proximity. It is only when Nautilus becomes a sacrificial offering on the altar of empire that every man discovers the brotherhood of the sea is more powerful than the bitter memories of an ocean of blood and decades of war.

Alexander Kent is the author of 28 acclaimed books featuring Richard Bolitho. Under his own name, Douglas Reeman, and in the course of a career spanning 45 years, he has written more than 30 novels and two non-fiction books.

©2020 Alexander Kant (P)2020 Audible, Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Sea Adventures War & Military Adventure War

Continue the series
In the King's Name cover art
In the King's Name By: Alexander Kent
All stars
Most relevant
I have read or listened to all of Kent's Bolitho series, and thoroughly enjoyed them. This book is good, but I found it difficult to follow, as if sections of plot are missing. It jumps from one event to the next without fully developing the plot. Perhaps it is because it has been a while since the last. I will of course stick with the series, but I would welcome a narrative more sympathetic to the reader.

disjointed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I kept thinking I was listening to an abridged version as we jumped from one scenario to the next. Also I had some difficulty knowing who was speaking. It is a pity the previous book in the series is not available on Audible as some scenes in this book might have made more sense if I had known what went before.

Disappointing. Like a jigsaw with pieces missing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.