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Hornblower, Horatio. Horatio Hornblower was created by C.S. Forester and appeared in eleven novels and a number of movies and radio programs from 1937 to 1967, beginning with The Happy Return.

Horatio Hornblower is a member of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic era; through hard work, intelligence, and decisiveness he rises from the rank of Midshipman to become an Admiral in the fleet. He is smart, patriotic, cynical, brave, and compassionate, and is an excellent seaman and leader of men.

* I'm including the Horatio Hornblower novels in the Best of the Encyclopedia category because of their archetypal nature, their historical importance, and the skill with which they are written. The Hornblower novels set the mold for Napoleonic naval adventure fiction for fifty years. Hornblower himself became the archetypal fictional British fighting ship's captain during that time. The novels are compact, exciting, and well-researched. And yet, and yet. To modern readers they are, if not unsatisfying, then Young Adult fiction, lacking the depth of adult fiction. I'm admittedly a Patrick O'Brian partisan, but there really is no comparison between the Hornblower novels and the Maturin & Aubrey tales. Maturin & Aubrey are written for modern adults; Hornblower aims at a younger audience. It's as simple as that. 

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