C.S. Forester and the Hornblower Saga

The recent A&E production of the adventures of Horatio Hornblower makes this newly revised edition of Sanford Sternlicht's full-length biographical and critical study of G. S. Forester and the Hornblower Saga that much more important. The book focuses on the writing, character models, historical background, and nautical veracity of the novels and stories that created for Forester a world-wide readership.Sternlicht includes little-known facts about Forester's background, his days in Hollywood as a screenwriter, and the genesis of the models for the major characters in the Saga -- many of whom were friends and acquaintances of Forester's. Sternlicht discusses extensively the research and writing techniques Forester used in his depiction of naval warfare and specific campaigns and actions of the Napoleonic period with actual procedures, events, and outcomes.In addition, Sternlicht offers readings and historical background to Forester's two other great historical novels, The African Queen and The General.