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Hornblower and the Crisis

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Hornblower and the Crisis

By: C. S. Forester
Narrated by: Christian Rodska
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About this listen

Exclusively from Audible:

In this, the final Horatio Hornblower adventure, C.S. Forester throws his hero into one of the most challenging missions yet.

Upon discovering highly confidential papers dispatched by Bonaparte, Hornblower sets off to enlighten the Admiralty about his game-changing, new findings. Troubled after having been informed of Pierre-Charles Villeneuve's escape into Spain, they welcome Horatio's news and send him off on a high-priority assignment that they believe will lead to England's victory over Napoleon.

His first and only espionage mission, Hornblower lights the powder trail which will eventually lead to the battle of Trafalgar and with a myriad of unexpected twists and suspenseful turns, Hornblower and the Crisis becomes one of Forester's greatest works.

Hugely celebrated for his Napoleonic naval warfare series, and later for the publication of The African Queen, C. S. Forester came to writing much later than expected. Having originally studied medicine at Guy's Hospital, Forester first developed a love of story-telling after being inspired by his travels with the Royal Navy.

Stricken with arteriosclerosis whilst voyaging to the Bering Sea, C.S. Forester was crippled in his later life. Sadly, he passed away before completing this final instalment, but his plans for Hornblower and he Crisis were clearly set out within his detailed notes. These can be found at the end of the audiobook and serve to offer further insight into the mind of this incredible author.

Narrator Biography

Christian Rodska is an English television and voice actor best known for his role in the 1970's series Follyfoot.

From the The Monuments Men and The Eagle of the Ninth to The Likely Lads, Z Cars, The Tomorrow People, Coronation Street, Bergerac and Casualty, his extensive and diverse acting career has led him to become a highly solicited radio and audiobook narrator.

He has now voiced over 150 unabridged audiobooks including Winston Churchill's biographies, Evelyn Waugh's Men at Arms and Sebastian Faulks' A Possible Life. He has been praised for his ability to vary in vocal pace and style and as such, Christian boasts 12 Earphone Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

©1967 C.S. Forester (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Sea Adventures War & Military Adventure War
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A couple of very good beginnings here - and well worth a listen if you have a voucher or free credit to spare - otherwise stick to the completed hornblower books and listen to this one at the end - the last 30 minutes or so tie things off

Shame it will remain unfinished!

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It is such a shame he died before finishing it.
I was very much enjoying the story. As usual.

Shame it ended unfinished

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I hadn't realised that this was an unfinished story with a couple of other short stories added in (out of chronological sequence). Good stories though and worth listening to for completion.

Unfinished story

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As always, excellent performance and an intriguing story. The tie off at the end was interesting but would suggest another great author be found to complete the story sketched out by CS Forester and make this complete. Until such time as one can be found to do justice to this yarn, it’s well worth the listen just as it is.

Great story - such a shame it remains unfinished

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Yes perhaps audible should make it more obvious that the main story here is unfinished, but in fairness that should be pretty clear from all the reviews and the fact it’s far shorter than the other books.

It’s still well worth listening, it was shaping up nicely - a big shame the Author had to go before he’d finished. The other two short stories are fun too, and the usual high standard of narration.

Hornblower and the crisis

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