Master & Commander - Patrick O'Brian

Props to Nick for telling me about this book - I bought it on his recommendation in Canada during our trip there over Christmas.

It's the tale of Captain Jack Aubry and Stephen Maturin, in the first of 20 historical novels. That basically means that the stories are largely true to history, but in order to make things read a little better, the history's been tidied up a little.

Not knowing that much about Nelson's navy, I'll have to rely on my gut in assessing the 'faultless portrayal' claimed on the back cover - and my gut says that it's pretty much spot on.

This first book in the series sets up the characters at the point in Aubry's career when he receives his first commission as Master and Commander of a ship, and relates the ups (daring captures of enemy vessels) and downs (being captured by the enemy) of the life of an 18th century navy man. All in all, it was a good read, and I am looking forward to the next 19 books.