In Which Order Should You Read Horatio Hornblower Novels

Set primarily during the Napoleonic Wars, C.S. Foresters Horatio Hornblower books chronicle the adventures of a British naval officer as he battles the enemy, struggles with life and rises through the ranks. Although newer competitors, particularly Patrick OBrians Aubrey and Maturin series of books, have reduced Horatio Hornblowers dominance of the naval genre, he remains the favorite of many. A well-regarded British TV series (1998–2003) attracted an even wider audience who was now able to visualize naval warfare with greater clarity. Unless youre unlucky enough to be trapped somewhere with just one book, newcomers to Hornblower are faced with a key decision: to read the books in the order Forester wrote them or in the order of their internal chronology. For instance, The Happy Return introduced the world to Hornblower, but the series has five other books with events predating those of The Happy Return. Theres no right answer here. Read the books in chronological order, and you follow Hornblower through his career and across the development of the Napoleonic Wars. In contrast, reading the books in the order of Foresters creation allows for a much easier introduction (The Happy Return is deliberately welcoming to new readers, as its where the author began) and a chance to miss contradictions, as Forester sometimes changed his mind or made errors and assumptions that are much more obvious in a chronological reading. The decision will differ depending on each reader. Order of Creation Following Foresters study of The Naval Chronicle that details the wars with Napoleon, a trip aboard a freighter from California to Central America, and his trip back home to Britain, the first book was plotted. The next books first appeared serially, in Argosy and the Saturday Evening Post. But it was the packaging of the first three books into a trilogy that made the series take off in the United States. Following that success, Forester penned more stories to fill in gaps in the timeline, which is why they werent written in a chronological order of events—the overall series story arc developed as he went, not at the start. If you read the Horatio Hornblower series in the order of creation, you will follow the story as the writer penned it, starting with world creation (background context) and character introductions.  Here is the order of creation, which may be the easiest way to read them: The Happy Return (Beat to Quarters)A Ship of the Line (Ship of the Line)Flying ColoursThe Commodore (Commodore Hornblower)Lord HornblowerMr. Midshipman HornblowerLieutenant HornblowerHornblower and the AtroposHornblower in the West Indies (Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies)Hornblower and the HotspurHornblower and the Crisis* (Hornblower During the Crisis) Hornblower Series: Chronological Order If you read the series in chronological order, you wont start with Hornblower as a captain but as a midshipman and lieutenant, literally learning the ropes on the navy ship. He fights in the Napoleonic Wars occurring with Spain, rising in the ranks, but peace with France prevents him from taking command of his own vessel—until the peace breaks, of course. He then earns his captaincy, meets Napoleon, and finds sunken treasure. Following more battles with France, hes taken captive. After his release, he sails on a mission to Russian territory and the Baltic. Further adventures have him quelling a mutiny and, finally, defeating Napoleon. But that is not the end of his story. The life of a proven leader is not quiet during peacetime. Next, he helps fight against  Bonapartists intent on breaking Napoleon out of St. Helena. On his way home to England, he saves his wife and crew from a hurricane. Throughout his career, he earns a knighthood and the rank of rear admiral. The historical way of reading the books may be harder, but is often recommended:   Mr. Midshipman HornblowerLieutenant HornblowerHornblower and the HotspurHornblower and the Crisis* (Hornblower During the Crisis)Hornblower and the AtroposThe Happy Return (Beat to Quarters)A Ship of the Line (Ship of the Line)Flying ColoursThe Commodore (Commodore Hornblower)Lord HornblowerHornblower in the West Indies (Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies) *Note: Many editions of this unfinished novel include two short stories, one set when the hero is a midshipman and to be read after Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, while the second is set in 1848 and should be read last. Major Characters Horatio Hornblower: The series tells the story of this navy leader from the time he enters service as a 17-year-old boy through the death of his first wife and the near death of his second. He may have started life as a poor boy lacking influential friends, but courage and skill in battle forge his character and leadership abilities, eventually rising to the rank of rear admiral. He understands the leadership of men and military chain of command but doesnt fare so well when he has to relate to women or function on land, like Odysseus. Maria: Horatio Hornblowers first wife and mother of his child. She dies while he is away at sea. She was the daughter of his landlady and helps him through his troubled peacetime. She grieves when he has to go back to sea. Lady Barbara Wellesley: Hornblowers second wife, a quality match for the leader he has become through his naval service. Shes the (fictional) sister to the Duke of Wellington, and he finds her fascinating. They fall in love when he is obligated to transport her on the ship. William Bush: The narrator who lets us see Horatio Hornblower through another persons eyes. As John Watson is to Sherlock Holmes. Brown: Hornblowers servant. Lieutenant Gerard: Hornblowers second lieutenant. Real people in the Horatio Hornblower books: Napoleon, King George, Captain Edward Pellew,  Admiral William Cornwallis,  Lord St. Vincent,  British Foreign Secretary the Marquess Wellesley, Russian Czar Alexander I,  Minister Anthony Merry,  Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz, Military Governor of Riga Ivan Nikolaevich Essen, and many others, especially in Commodore. Themes For Forester, these books were meant for entertainment and action, but they also show the success of good leadership through great accomplishments and problem-solving. As a leader, Hornblower doesnt just surround himself with people of his rank but of all people. He rises to occasions and succeeds at them because he does what needs to be done, analyzing situations and being flexible rather than tackling every challenge in the same way.  Courage is vitally important. He has a moral center and is uncomfortable with corporal punishment. But even if he doesnt enjoy a task, such as climbing a mast, obeying orders he believes are wrong, or  such as inflicting punishment—he does what needs doing without complaint. He accepts difficulties with grace.   Historical Context The series was written starting in the late 1930s and extended into the 1960s, with the majority of them written during World War II (including its precursor and aftermath). Setting them during earlier wars with a known outcome made them the perfect escapist fiction. Theyre of a romanticized, valiant era and are full of period detail that came directly from Foresters research. Key Quotes Mr. Midshipman Hornblower â€Å"I thank God daily for the good fortune of my birth, for I am certain I would have made a miserable peasant.†Ã‚   July 4th, 1776, mused Keene, reading Hornblower’s date of birth to  himself. Lieutenant Hornblower â€Å"Bush put both arms round Hornblower’s shoulders and walked with dragging feet. It did not matter that his feet dragged and his legs would not function while he had this support; Hornblower was the best man in the world and Bush could announce it by singing ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ while lurching along the alleyway.† â€Å"Hornblower worked as hard to conceal his human weaknesses as some men worked to conceal ignoble birth.† Commodore Hornblower â€Å"...irresponsibility was something which, in the very nature of things, could not co-exist with independence.† Hornblower and the Atropos The cork was in the bottle. He and the Atropos were trapped. TV Show You could, of course, stream the television series and watch episodes in the order they were produced. Know, however, that they cover events from only three of the books; plus, they make changes that are not to everyones taste. That said, they received 15 Emmy nominations and two awards in 1999 for editing and outstanding miniseries.

Advantages of Teamwork Versus Individual Work Synergy Essay

Work teams play an important role in a modern organization. From software engineers who collaborate to write code to the board of directors who gather to make strategic decisions, teams are increasingly being used worldwide as the foundation of work. We know from our everyday experiences, however, that effective teamwork is not achieved as easily as getting a collection of individuals together. There are important things that the group has to accomplish in order to prove effective. First of all, individuals have to group around a common task or goal that they are trying achieve. Once this is satisfied and group members are aware and agree on the common goal/task, there should be further effort put in to develop and nurture the group as it†¦show more content†¦Sharing the work in such a way that each member of the team utilizes his/her strength and does not have to deal with areas where skills may be deficient has not only the advantage of higher productivity, but the advanta ge of higher morale and lesser frustrations. Moreover, groups generally outperform individuals in cases where both the group and the individuals do not have any expertise on the task. This interesting phenomenon can be explained by what is called the effect of synergy. According to Salazar, the whole is not necessarily equal, but may be greater than the sum of its individual parts, which describes the effect of synergy. Synergy occurs when group performance from joint action exceeds that of the total performance of its members when perceived abilities and skills of individual members are considered (Salazar 172). In a recent study, groups were able to answer a question correctly 28% of the time whereas individual members working alone could only answer correctly 4% of the time when the answer to the question was not known by any of the members (Stasson and Bradshaw 304). This obviously demonstrates a very important advantage of groups over individuals through synergy, but it is not the only one. The synergy bonus often will al so appear as productivity, quality, timeliness, creativity and some otherShow MoreRelatedPrevailing Contemporary Themes in Hospitality2237 Words   |  9 Pagesbecomes critical to the success in the long term. 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Employment Prospects at the Department of Homeland Security Free Essays

Amongst young individuals contemplating their career aspirations, those who consider a career in government service are hardly a majority. However, government service covers a broad range of employment opportunities. These opportunities find use of almost any discipline or degree imaginable. We will write a custom essay sample on Employment Prospects at the Department of Homeland Security or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Department of Homeland Security is no exception. Despite being the youngest of the U. S government’s federal agencies, the DHS is one of its largest, concerned with coordinating efforts with other agencies and private industry to obtain and enhance the security of the American homeland. (Jones, 2006) As such, the Department of Homeland Security is also the fastest growing and most occupationally diverse of the federal agencies. Despite the economic recession, the employment opportunities within the federal sector have continued to grow since 2001, particularly in areas of civil employment within the executive branch. (Riechmann, 2009) This job growth is credited largely to the emergence of the DHS, which created a demand for a broad range of individuals with a diverse set of skills and talents pertinent to its duties. Furthermore, it is interesting to note that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that the Obama administration has recently signed calls for increased funding to create job opportunities. A majority of this is in the private sector, but a substantial amount (about 3 billion U. S. dollars) is directed towards jobs in the DHS as well (DHS, 2009) The Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects job growth in the entirety of the homeland security sector to be about 42% (Stone, 2009b) The DHS emerged as a result of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which was passed as a response to the successful attacks known as 9/11. Kyle Stone, editor of the civilian government employee community resource GovCentral notes that in effect, the DHS represents the â€Å"centralization of hundreds of smaller U. S. government industries,† and college graduates can reasonably conclude that the DHS is less a specialized branch with specific functions, but an organization with broad range in spite of the specificity of its goals. The DHS oversees the U. S. infrastructure, technology, transportation, borders and a diverse array of research projects and scenario planning initiatives in the interest of promoting and developing homeland security. (Stone, 2009; Stone, 2009a; Gressle, 2004) Hutton and Mydlarz (2004) mirror Stone’s observation, noting that the DHS is a coordination of various skill sets. As such, they note in their guide to careers in homeland security that opportunities exist for almost any field imaginable. Number-crunchers and pattern specialists face prospects in the area of information analysis, while science majors can, with further study, find themselves in the area of radiological, biochemical, radiological and nuclear defense. Furthermore, security needs are highly specific in the areas of aviation and transportation infrastructure. As such, the DHS is a large pool of employment opportunity to be tapped by fresh graduates. Still, there are many who consider the Department of Homeland Security no better than any other area of government service, and as such regard it with the similarly dim view accorded to other federal branches. Riechmann (2009) notes that in the face of recession, federal jobs have remained stable with regards to insurance and health care benefits as well as employment security. As such, the popular assumption that the private sector is a more lucrative area has been destabilized by recession, making federal jobs fare better to those who feel uncertain about their financial and employment welfare. Between the rapid growth of the homeland security sector in years recent and yet to come, the number of jobs present to a diverse set of educational disciplines and the stability of benefits and security of employment, the Department of Homeland Security proves to be full of opportunity, making it an ideal start for college graduates uncertain as to where to find a promising career. REFERENCES Jones, E. (2006) â€Å"Careers in homeland security: Many jobs, one mission. † Occupational Outlook Quarterly. Riechmann, D. (2009, February 2) â€Å"As unemployment rises, Uncle Sam has jobs. † Associated Press. Retrieved online on July 22, 2009 from: http://www. foxnews. com/wires/2009Feb02/0,4670,FedsPaddingPayrolls,00. html Department of Homeland Security. â€Å"The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. † DHS. Gov Gressle, S. S. (2004, January 14) â€Å"Department of Homeland Security: Organization Chart. † Congressional Research Service. Retrieved online on July 22, 2009 from: http://www. ndu. edu/library/docs/crs/crs_rs21366_14jan04. pdf Stone, K. (2009a). â€Å"Growing Federal Jobs: Homeland Security. † GovCentral. Retrieved online on July 22, 2009 from: http://www. govcentral. com/benefits/articles/2055-growing-federal-jobs-homeland-security Stone, K. (2009b) â€Å"The 9 Fastest Growing Gov’t Industries. † GovCentral. Retrieved online on July 22, 2009 from: http://www. govcentral. com/benefits/articles/2047-the-9-fastest-growing-govt-industries Hutton, D. B. Mydlarz, A. (2003) Guide to Homeland Security Careers. Barron’s Educational Series: Hauppage, New York. How to cite Employment Prospects at the Department of Homeland Security, Papers