Flying Colours (Horatio Hornblower Series #8)

Forced to surrender his ship, the Sutherland, after a long and bloody battle, Captain Horatio Hornblower now bides his time as a prisoner in a French fortress. Within days he and his first lieutenant, Bush, who was crippled in the last fight, are to be taken to Paris to be tried on trumped-up charges of violating the laws of war, and most probably executed as part of Napoleon's attempt to rally the warweary empire behind him. Even if Hornblower escapes this fate and somehow finds his way back to England, he will face court-martial for his surrender of a British ship. As fears for his life and his reputation compete in his mind with worries about his pregnant wife and his possibly widowed lover, the indomitable captain imetierntly awaits the chance to make his next move.

Library Journal

Forester's saga about the fictional British naval hero of the Napoleonic Wars, Horatio Hornblower, has long been popular and is likely soon to become even more so--thanks to a lavish British miniseries headed to the United States. With intelligent, carefully crafted plots and riveting action, all 11 Hornblower novels make ideal audiobooks, and Flying Colours (1938) is no exception--especially with Christian Rodska's able reading. Its story immediately follows Ship of the Line, which ends with Hornblower disabling four enemy ships and surrendering his own wrecked ship to the French in a Spanish port. While Hornblower and his crippled first lieutenant are taken overland to Paris for trial and almost certain execution, they stage a daring escape. However, Hornblower is torn by the knowledge that even if he returns to England, he faces court-martial and may be executed anyway for surrendering his ship. Though set mostly on land, this novel never lacks for excitement, and its conclusion may be the most gratifying of any in the Hornblower series.-Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA

One of the most popular adventure novelists ever, C.S. Forester delighted readers with his Horatio Hornblower series of nautical historical novels, which follow the career of a brave captain in the Napoleonic wars. Forester also created a great love story in The African Queen, the basis for the John Huston film of the same name.