Master and Commander Totally Explained

Everything about Master And Commander totally explained

Master and Commander is a historical naval novel by Patrick O'Brian. First published in 1970 it's first in the Aubrey-Maturin series of stories of Captain Jack Aubrey and the naval surgeon Stephen Maturin.

Plot summary

It is April 18, 1800, in Port Mahon, Minorca, at that time a base of the Royal Navy. Jack Aubrey, a lieutenant languishing in port without a ship, and Stephen Maturin, a penniless half-Irish, half-Catalan physician and natural philosopher, meet for the first time at a soirée at the Govenor's House. Maturin elbows Aubrey in the side to quiet his humming while they're listening to the quartet and almost provokes a duel.
   On his return to his lodgings, Aubrey finds that he's been given a command and promoted to the rank of commander. His joy overcomes his animosity towards Maturin and after coffee at 'Joselito's Coffee House' they become fast friends. As 'Master and Commander', and in charge of the tiny sloop-of-war HMS Sophie, Aubrey has to fill out his crew, including the post of ship's surgeon. He persuades Maturin to serve, at least on a temporary basis, although as a physician, he's overqualified for the job.
   Also introduced are Master's Mates Thomas Pullings and William Mowett and midshipman William Babbington, who become long-term fixtures in the series, and James Dillon, Sophie's first lieutenant, whose secret background as a member of the United Irishmen intersects Stephen's own.
   Aubrey improves Sophie's sailing qualities by adding a larger spar to her mainmast, enabling him to spread a larger mainsail. He makes her ready to sail in convoy with twelve merchant vessels. During their journey east, the new captain takes the opportunity to get to know his sailors and to weld them into a fighting unit. As he does, he and the crew explain many naval matters to Maturin, (and thus to the reader) since the doctor is a novice sailor. En route, they meet an Algerian quarter-galley who attacks their rearmost vessel, the Norwegian Dorthe Engelbrechtsdatter. The Sophie chases her off. Eventually, having retrieved the Norwegian ship, the convoy makes its destination off Cagliari. After a second convoy duty to Leghorn, Aubrey reports to Lord Keith in the Genoa roads.

Characters in "Master and Commander"

See also Recurring characters in the Aubrey–Maturin series

Jack Aubrey – Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and appointed Commander at the start. Captain of HMS Sophie.
Stephen Maturin – ship's surgeon, friend to Jack and intelligence officer.
Harte – Captain and station Commandant
Molly Harte – Wife to the station Commandant
Lord Keith (Thos Walker) – Admiral in the Mediterranean
Samuel Allen – erstwhile Captain in Sophie, succeeded by Aubrey
Mr. Baldick – Lieutenant in Sophie, ill and replaced
Mr. Williams – administrator in Mahon for Aubrey's prize-agent
David Richards – Mr. Williams relative who ships as Midshipman in Sophie
William Marshall – master in Sophie
Tom Pullings – master's mate in Sophie
William Mowett – master's mate in Sophie
Isaac Wilson – ordinary seaman in Sophie
Watt – bosun in Sophie
Lamb – carpenter
Ricketts – purser
George Day – the gunner
Charles Stephen Ricketts – son to the purser, rated midshipman
William Babbington – midshipman in Sophie
James Dillon – first lieutenant in Sophie
Alfred King – Black crew member, also a mute
Quinn – sergeant of marines

Ships in "Master and Commander"

The British:

HMS Audacious - Ship of the line and flagship

HMS Niobe - frigate

HMS Pallas - frigate

HMS Sophie - Tri-sailed brig (sloop)

Burford -

HMS Généreux - 74 gun Third rate. Captured from France in 1800.

Tartarus - bomb-ketch The Spanish:

Cacafuego - xebec-type frigate (though named after a ship from the 16th century)

Major themes

Many incidents and events in the book are directly copied from the real cruises of Lord Cochrane in his sloop HMS Speedy. Cochrane described them in detail in his Autobiography of a Seaman.

Allusions/references to actual history, geography and current science

The capture of the Spanish xebec-frigate Cacafuego by the greatly inferior Sophie brings Aubrey and his crew great glory (although no great wealth). This episode is based on the capture of the Spanish frigate El Gamo by Thomas Cochrane commanding the sloop HMS Speedy. The exploit of setting up a decoy of a large ship at night by attaching lights to a small boat was executed by Cochrane and described in his Autobiography of a Seaman, which was used by O'Brian as source material for this novel. It was also used by the French privateer Robert Surcouf to successfully escape the British frigate HMS Sybille.
The book ends with Aubrey and Maturin witnessing the Battle of Algeciras, firstly from the deck of the French Desaix, then from the Rock of Gibraltar.

Literary significance & criticism

"Nothing is glamourised. The press gangings, the squalor are all here....The battle scenes are tremendous...This isn't secondhand Forester, but a really fine piece of writing."—Sunday Mirror.

Reviews

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The film takes part of its title from this novel and some themes along with several puns, but very little of its plot. In fact, no one book provides the total plot line for the movie. A significant portion comes from The Far Side of the World, with somewhat less from HMS Surprise and other books.

Release details

1970, UK, Collins Publishers (ISBN ?), Pub Date ? ? 1970, Hardback

1970, USA, Books on Tape (ISBN 5-557-10141-1), Pub date ? January 1970, Audio cassette (unabridged) not sure if the date can be correct

1972, UK, Fontana (ISBN 0-00-612913-7), Pub Date 1 May 1972, Paperback

1989, UK, Harper Collins (ISBN 0-00-616626-1), Pub date 9 February 1989, Paperback

1990, USA, W. W. Norton & Company (ISBN 0-393-30705-0), Pub date ? November 1990, Paperback

1992, UK, ISIS Audio Books (ISBN 1-85089-877-4), Pub date ? October 1992, Audio cassette (unabridged)

1994, USA, W. W. Norton & Company (ISBN 0-393-03701-0), Pub date ? November 1994, Paperback

1995, UK, Bespoke Audio (ISBN 1-86051-003-5), Pub date ? June 1995, Audio cassette (abridged Robert Hardy Narrator)

1996, UK, Harper Collins (ISBN 0-00-649915-5), Pub date 7 October 1996, Paperback

1998, UK, Harper Collins (ISBN 0-00-221526-8), Pub date 27 January 1998, Hardback

1999, USA, Thorndike Press (ISBN 0-7862-1932-7), Pub date ? November 1999, Large print paperback

1999, USA, Chivers, Windsor, Paragon & Co (ISBN 0-7540-1334-0), Pub date 1 November 1999, Board book ?

2000, USA, Chivers, Windsor, Paragon & Co (ISBN 0-7540-2248-X), Pub date 1 August 2000, Large print paperback

2002, UK, Soundings (ISBN 1-84283-310-3), Pub date ? June 2002, Audio Cassette (abridged Christopher Kay Narrator)

2003, USA, W. W. Norton & Company (ISBN 0-393-32517-2), Pub date ? October 2003, Paperback (Movie Tie-In)

2003, UK, Harper Collins (ISBN 0-00-716608-7), Pub date 6 October 2003, Hardback (Movie Tie-In)

2003, UK, Harper Collins (ISBN 0-00-715786-X), Pub date 6 October 2003, Paperback (Movie Tie-In)

2003, UK, Harper Collins (ISBN 0-00-105329-9), Pub date 6 October 2003, Audio Cassette (abridged Robert Hardy Narrator)

2003, UK, Harper Collins (ISBN 0-00-716085-2), Pub date 6 October 2003, Audio CD (abridged Robert Hardy Narrator)

2004, USA, W. W. Norton & Company (ISBN 0-393-32476-1), Pub date 21 January 2004, Paperback (Movie Tie-In)

2004, UK, Blackstone Audiobooks (ISBN 0-7861-8713-1), Pub date March 2004, MP3 CD, AUDIO CD (unabridged Simon Vance (Narrator)

2004, USA, Blackstone Audiobooks (ISBN-13: 978-0786186297), Pub date March 2004, MP3 CD, AUDIO CD (unabridged Simon Vance (Narrator)

2005, UK, Soundings (ISBN 1-84283-260-3), Pub date ? January 2005, Audio Cassette (abridged Christopher Kay? Narrator)

?, USA, Firebird Distributing (ISBN 0-00-105329-9), Pub date ? ? ?, Paperback ?

?, USA, Recorded Books, LLC (ISBN 1-4025-8272-2), Pub date ? ? ?, Audio cassette (unabridged by

Sources, references, external links, quotations

Footnotes

Further Information

Get more info on 'Master And Commander'.

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