Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Comic Cuts - 26 April 2013
My nose was firmly to the grindstone for the first half of the week, making up for a couple of weeks that are best described as patchy. I mean, I got the Ranger book out but I've let other things distract me – my birthday, taking a whole day off, even doing some gardening.
Think of all the positive things to come out of this: I am one year older and therefore one year wiser, the day off only proved how easily I get bored and that damned spiny plant that was forever spearing everybody who risked going up and down the drive is now a memory. A hated memory of a spiteful plant. The bastard. We called it Spiny Norman because it was like having an angry porcupine with three-feet long quills jabbing at your legs on every trip out to the Co-op, or down to the post office or over to the bus stop.
There's a whole front garden that needs to be tamed but the bulk of the work will now have to wait until later in the year as we have at least three nesting pairs of birds in the thicket that should be a garden. We've had for some time a pair of blackbirds and a pair of robins, but they were joined recently by a pair of chaffinches (chaffinchi?). Pretty little things. It's the best excuse I've thought of for ignoring the garden so far this year.
I don't think we will have a repeat of last year when at least two nesting birds were attacked by cats. The cat in question (Blingy) hasn't been seen for ages. In fact, we've hardly seen any of the four cats I spotted last summer (Scatterpuss, Fluffybum, Blingy and the rarely seen Ninja). Five cats if you include Tiddles the naughty ghost cat, responsible for breaking wind and stealing sweets in the house. This year we seem to have only one cat, known as Socks if he's friendly, or Sox if he proves to be edgy or have an attitude.
This slightly insane rambling is here to fill a gap. Basically, I've no news and two-thirds of the excitement for the week is happening after this column is written. Tonight (as I'm writing – last night as you're reading) we're off to see Mitch Benn and on Saturday it's Mark Steel, touring his "In Town" show. But I can tell you that our little comedy binge got off to a fantastic start when Richard Herring's "Talking Cock" came to town on Wednesday night. I'm still trying to get to grips with this new camera and only managed to get a couple of presentable (that's presentable, not good) shots.
The show is hilarious. I'll admit now that I feared celebrating the male member was going to walk a fine line between the raging embarrassment men have about their winkies and overcompensation: laughing just to prove you can laugh about your todger. However, the audience were relaxed, responsive and ready to learn as Herring dropped facts and statistics throughout the show, often revealing some unexpected attitudes to the penis. This was superbly balanced with a mix of unexpectedly revealing insights and enough schoolboy humour to keep the show from growing po-faced. It's one of Herring's finest shows and the audience – the show was a sell-out – loved it.
Tonight is Mitch Benn. Hopefully I'll have some photos next week.
Today's random scans. Wilf McNeilly is best known as one of Sexton Blake's regulars although you'll find a few of his stories listed in the next index I do (Boys' World). He had quite a varied career and Bill Lofts used to tell one or two scurrilous stories about him. But nobody will deny that he could tell a yarn. Big Ice was his last published novel and isn't widely known even amongst his fans. Is that Chris Moore cover art? Tony Roberts?
Twisted Trails is an example of what Harold Johns got up to after he left the Frank Hampson studio. Not a hint of Dan Dare about this one.
The third (and I think final one for today) cover is by Eric Tansley who was a very good nature artist. He has appeared here on Bear Alley before and generated a lot of comments from fans and people who knew him.
We have Lesley Shane continuing over the weekend and through next week. I should hopefully also have the upcoming releases and recent releases columns posted... probably mid-week, but maybe earlier if I can get my act together on Sunday.
Think of all the positive things to come out of this: I am one year older and therefore one year wiser, the day off only proved how easily I get bored and that damned spiny plant that was forever spearing everybody who risked going up and down the drive is now a memory. A hated memory of a spiteful plant. The bastard. We called it Spiny Norman because it was like having an angry porcupine with three-feet long quills jabbing at your legs on every trip out to the Co-op, or down to the post office or over to the bus stop.
There's a whole front garden that needs to be tamed but the bulk of the work will now have to wait until later in the year as we have at least three nesting pairs of birds in the thicket that should be a garden. We've had for some time a pair of blackbirds and a pair of robins, but they were joined recently by a pair of chaffinches (chaffinchi?). Pretty little things. It's the best excuse I've thought of for ignoring the garden so far this year.
I don't think we will have a repeat of last year when at least two nesting birds were attacked by cats. The cat in question (Blingy) hasn't been seen for ages. In fact, we've hardly seen any of the four cats I spotted last summer (Scatterpuss, Fluffybum, Blingy and the rarely seen Ninja). Five cats if you include Tiddles the naughty ghost cat, responsible for breaking wind and stealing sweets in the house. This year we seem to have only one cat, known as Socks if he's friendly, or Sox if he proves to be edgy or have an attitude.
This slightly insane rambling is here to fill a gap. Basically, I've no news and two-thirds of the excitement for the week is happening after this column is written. Tonight (as I'm writing – last night as you're reading) we're off to see Mitch Benn and on Saturday it's Mark Steel, touring his "In Town" show. But I can tell you that our little comedy binge got off to a fantastic start when Richard Herring's "Talking Cock" came to town on Wednesday night. I'm still trying to get to grips with this new camera and only managed to get a couple of presentable (that's presentable, not good) shots.
The show is hilarious. I'll admit now that I feared celebrating the male member was going to walk a fine line between the raging embarrassment men have about their winkies and overcompensation: laughing just to prove you can laugh about your todger. However, the audience were relaxed, responsive and ready to learn as Herring dropped facts and statistics throughout the show, often revealing some unexpected attitudes to the penis. This was superbly balanced with a mix of unexpectedly revealing insights and enough schoolboy humour to keep the show from growing po-faced. It's one of Herring's finest shows and the audience – the show was a sell-out – loved it.
Tonight is Mitch Benn. Hopefully I'll have some photos next week.
Today's random scans. Wilf McNeilly is best known as one of Sexton Blake's regulars although you'll find a few of his stories listed in the next index I do (Boys' World). He had quite a varied career and Bill Lofts used to tell one or two scurrilous stories about him. But nobody will deny that he could tell a yarn. Big Ice was his last published novel and isn't widely known even amongst his fans. Is that Chris Moore cover art? Tony Roberts?
Twisted Trails is an example of what Harold Johns got up to after he left the Frank Hampson studio. Not a hint of Dan Dare about this one.
The third (and I think final one for today) cover is by Eric Tansley who was a very good nature artist. He has appeared here on Bear Alley before and generated a lot of comments from fans and people who knew him.
We have Lesley Shane continuing over the weekend and through next week. I should hopefully also have the upcoming releases and recent releases columns posted... probably mid-week, but maybe earlier if I can get my act together on Sunday.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Commando Issues 4595-4598
Commando Issues on sale 25th April 2013
Commando No 4595 – The Killing Cage
It was a straightforward assassination mission for the men of the Convict Commandos; the sort of job they had been sprung from jail to do without breaking a sweat.
But this time they were up against an adversary who had a lot of experience of attempts on his life. He would make things very hot indeed for Major Guy Tenby’s men…using a flamethrower!
Story: Alan Hebden
Art: Benet
Cover: Benet
Commando No 4596 – Battle In The Desert
Sergeant Jack McBride of the French Foreign Legion was on the track of the bandit who had stolen his unit’s payroll. When he caught up with the theif, Amadou Bin Farzi, he intended to make him suffer for the crime by throwing him into a French jail.
He had no way of knowing that when he did capture the rogue he would set of a train of events that would end in Bin Farzi being the only man who could keep him alive. The question on Jack’s mind then was, would he?
Story: Alex Woodrow
Art: Olivera
Cover: Janek Matysiak
Commando No 4597 – Fast Gun
Lieutenant “Duke” Callahan, Yankee, was new to the desert war. He was tough — but green.
Lieutenant Bruce Wilson, Britisher, had been fighting sun, sand and Germans for a long time. He had plenty of toughness too — but he knew how to use it.
These two would have made a great team together. That was the idea. But they took to hating each other’s guts — and when that happened that big desert just wasn’t big enough.
Introduction
In every Commando story it’s a given that there’s a war going on. The other given is that’s very unlikely to be the main conflict in the tale. Somewhere the characters will be at loggerheads; if they’re on the same side and come to blows so much the better.
Lurking behind Ken Barr’s cover art is just such a story, well realised from a Clegg script in strong black-and-white by early regular Commando artist Bielsa. Some of his tank edges look sharp enough to cut you as you read. And reading is what you’re supposed to do.
So if you fancy a sparring contest in the desert, this is one for you.
Calum Laird, Editor
Story: Clegg
Art: Bielsa
Cover: Ken Barr
Originally Commando No 85 (September 1963), re-issued as No 571 (August 1971)
Commando No 4598 – One Good Turn…
They had captured a German Colonel! Quite a good day’s work, was that. But in doing it they had also saved him from being murdered by a bunch of brigands, and although they didn’t know it at the time it was going to save their own skins pretty soon.
Introduction
An intriguing tale, this. One where we have some fairly standard Commando heroes and villains but, as the story unfolds and we get to know them, we discover that not every character behaves in the way that we may have expected them to.
That’s a sign of some good writing…and sub-editing. If done properly, editing should be the “invisible” part of a comic strip — something that the reader really should never have to think about. Years ago, as a youngster reading comics, I used to think that they arrived fully formed on newsagent shelves as if by magic every week — hopefully some of you still feel the same way.
Scott Montgomery, Deputy Editor
Story: Peter Mackenzie
Art: Denis McLoughlin
Cover: Jeff Bevan
Originally Commando No 2191 (June 1988)
Commando No 4595 – The Killing Cage
It was a straightforward assassination mission for the men of the Convict Commandos; the sort of job they had been sprung from jail to do without breaking a sweat.
But this time they were up against an adversary who had a lot of experience of attempts on his life. He would make things very hot indeed for Major Guy Tenby’s men…using a flamethrower!
Story: Alan Hebden
Art: Benet
Cover: Benet
Commando No 4596 – Battle In The Desert
Sergeant Jack McBride of the French Foreign Legion was on the track of the bandit who had stolen his unit’s payroll. When he caught up with the theif, Amadou Bin Farzi, he intended to make him suffer for the crime by throwing him into a French jail.
He had no way of knowing that when he did capture the rogue he would set of a train of events that would end in Bin Farzi being the only man who could keep him alive. The question on Jack’s mind then was, would he?
Story: Alex Woodrow
Art: Olivera
Cover: Janek Matysiak
Commando No 4597 – Fast Gun
Lieutenant “Duke” Callahan, Yankee, was new to the desert war. He was tough — but green.
Lieutenant Bruce Wilson, Britisher, had been fighting sun, sand and Germans for a long time. He had plenty of toughness too — but he knew how to use it.
These two would have made a great team together. That was the idea. But they took to hating each other’s guts — and when that happened that big desert just wasn’t big enough.
Introduction
In every Commando story it’s a given that there’s a war going on. The other given is that’s very unlikely to be the main conflict in the tale. Somewhere the characters will be at loggerheads; if they’re on the same side and come to blows so much the better.
Lurking behind Ken Barr’s cover art is just such a story, well realised from a Clegg script in strong black-and-white by early regular Commando artist Bielsa. Some of his tank edges look sharp enough to cut you as you read. And reading is what you’re supposed to do.
So if you fancy a sparring contest in the desert, this is one for you.
Calum Laird, Editor
Story: Clegg
Art: Bielsa
Cover: Ken Barr
Originally Commando No 85 (September 1963), re-issued as No 571 (August 1971)
Commando No 4598 – One Good Turn…
They had captured a German Colonel! Quite a good day’s work, was that. But in doing it they had also saved him from being murdered by a bunch of brigands, and although they didn’t know it at the time it was going to save their own skins pretty soon.
Introduction
An intriguing tale, this. One where we have some fairly standard Commando heroes and villains but, as the story unfolds and we get to know them, we discover that not every character behaves in the way that we may have expected them to.
That’s a sign of some good writing…and sub-editing. If done properly, editing should be the “invisible” part of a comic strip — something that the reader really should never have to think about. Years ago, as a youngster reading comics, I used to think that they arrived fully formed on newsagent shelves as if by magic every week — hopefully some of you still feel the same way.
Scott Montgomery, Deputy Editor
Story: Peter Mackenzie
Art: Denis McLoughlin
Cover: Jeff Bevan
Originally Commando No 2191 (June 1988)
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
World Book Night - 23 April 2013
Hi folks. It's World Book Night and for the first time there's a graphic novel on offer. For more details visit the World Book Night website. For more about the collection Judge Dredd: The Dark Judges follow this link.
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Monday, April 22, 2013
The Arms of Dracos part 1
Welcome back Lesley Shane, star of an earlier Bear Alley strip presentation, Alias Colonel Blood (you'll have to scroll down and go back a page [older posts].
Lesley Shane was a female detective whose adventures appeared in the Daily Sketch in the early 1950s and were then syndicated worldwide until at least 1956, possibly later.
The quality of the original scans is poor and I've done my best to make them readable. The original newspaper strips have never been reprinted, although some stories were rejigged and revised to appear in Super Detective Library in 1953-57. The strips were also reprinted in an Australian comic book which ran for at lest 5 issues in around 1955.
Artist Oliver Passingham went on to draw other newspaper strips before spending thirty years working for D. C. Thomson before retiring in the early 1990s. He spent the next decade painting watercolours, dying in 2003, aged 78.
(* © Mercury Features.)
Lesley Shane was a female detective whose adventures appeared in the Daily Sketch in the early 1950s and were then syndicated worldwide until at least 1956, possibly later.
The quality of the original scans is poor and I've done my best to make them readable. The original newspaper strips have never been reprinted, although some stories were rejigged and revised to appear in Super Detective Library in 1953-57. The strips were also reprinted in an Australian comic book which ran for at lest 5 issues in around 1955.
Artist Oliver Passingham went on to draw other newspaper strips before spending thirty years working for D. C. Thomson before retiring in the early 1990s. He spent the next decade painting watercolours, dying in 2003, aged 78.
(* © Mercury Features.)
Sunday, April 21, 2013
C S Forester
Cecil Scott Forester was born Cecil Lewis Troughton Smith in Cairo. Egypt, on August 27, 1899, the son of George Smith, a British official in the Egyptian Ministry of Education. When still a child he was sent to England to be educated at Alleyn's School and Dulwich College, at neither of which, he says, did he make any particular impression, except as an extremely naughty boy. On leaving Dulwich College he went to Guy's Hospital as a medical student, but soon discovered that his interest in medicine was less than an interest in literature.
At twenty he was writing for periodicals, and he soon abandoned medicine altogether. His first novel, Payment Deferred, was written at the age of twenty-four and later dramatized and filmed with Charles Loughton in the leading role.
In 1932 Forester was offered a Hollywood contract and from then until 1939 he spent thirteen weeks of every year in America, where he worked on films such as Born for Glory (1935) and Eagle Squadron (1942).
Many of his most successful novels were sea stories, such as the famous 'Hornblower' series. In Hornblower, Forest created the most renowned sailor in contemporary fiction. The first three volumes (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line, Flying Colours) were written as a trilogy, the middle volume of which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. The next two novels in the series (The Commodore, Lord Hornblower) were little more than thinly disguised propaganda, published at the end of the war and using Napoleon as a surrogate Hitler. Hornblower
In all Forester wrote eleven Hornblower novels and a fragment of a twelfth which was published after his death. The published order does not follow Hornblower's career chronologically, and the correct reading order should be: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, Hornblower and the Hotspur, Hornblower and the Crisis (the unfinished fragment), Hornblower and the Atropos, The Happy Return (US as Beat to Quarters), A Ship of the Line, Flying Colours, The Commodore, Lord Hornblower, Hornblower in the West Indies and 'The Last Encounter', a short story included in Hornblower and the Crisis. Captain Hornblower, R.N. was filmed in 1951.
On the outbreak of war Forester entered the Ministry of Information and later sailed with the Royal Navy's H.M.S. Penelope to collect material for The Ship, to whose officers and ship's company the book was dedicated. He then made a voyage to the Bering Sea to gather material for a similar book on the United States Navy. It was during this trip that he was stricken with arteriosclerosis, a disease which left him crippled. Forester subsequently moved to California with his family and made only occasional visits to England.
Among his many other successful novels may be mentioned The Gun, set during the Peninsular War, The General, set during the Great War, The Earthly Paradise, The Captain from Connecticut, about an American privateer, and The Sky and the Forest.
Forester was married twice: to Kathleen Belcher in 1926 (divorced 1944), with whom he had two sons; and to Dorothy Ellen Foster in 1947. He died on April 2, 1966.
PUBLICATIONS
Novels
A Pawn Among Kings. London, Methuen & Co., 1924.
(no paperback edition)
Payment Deferred. London, John Lane, 1926; Boston, Little Brown, 1942.
Guild Books 421, 1950, 160pp,
Penguin 1111, 1955, 159pp. Cover: design
Pan Books, G628, 1963, 156pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1964
---- [3rd imp.] 1968
---- [0330-10740-2] [4th imp.] 1974, 156pp, 30p. Cover: photo
Mayflower 0583-12819-X, 1978, 157pp.
Penguin 0141-19810-9, 2011, 184pp. Cover by Nick Morley
Love Lies Dreaming. London, John Lane, and Indianapolis, Bobbs Merrill, 1927.
(no paperback edition)
The Wonderful Week. London, John Lane, 1927; as One Wonderful Week, Indianapolis, Bobbs Merrill, 1927.
(no paperback edition)
The Shadow of the Hawk. London, John Lane, 1928; as The Daughter of the Hawk, Indianapolis, Bobbs Merrill, 1928.
(no paperback edition)
Brown on Resolution. London, John Lane, 1929; as Single-Handed, New York, Putnam, 1929.
British Publishers Guild S50, 1943, 142pp. Cover: design
Guild Books 449, (Jul) 1952, 160pp, 2/-. Cover by unknown
Penguin 1118, 1956, 150pp, 2/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
Pan Books G629, 1963, 154pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1964
---- [3rd imp.] 1968
---- [4th imp.] 1970
---- [5th imp.] 1971, 154pp, 20p. Cover by unknown
Mayflower Books 0583-12818-1, 1977, 155pp.
Plain Murder. London, John Lane, 1930; New York, Dell, 1954.
Penguin 842, 1951, 187pp. Cover: design
Pan Books 0330-02577-5, 1970, 155pp. Cover: photo
Mayflower 0583-12821-1, 1978, 155pp. Cover: photo
Penguin 0141-19813-3, 2011, 197pp. Cover by Nick Morley
Death to the French. London, John Lane, 1932; as Rifleman Dodd [with The Gun], Boston, Little Brown, 1943.
Guild Books 439, (May) 1952, 1/6. Cover by James E. McConnell
Penguin 1119, 1956, 159pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1956, 159pp, 2/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
Pan Books, 1963, 154pp.
Mayflower, c.1978.
Cassell 0304-35883-5, 2002, 155pp.
The Gun. London, John Lane, and Boston, Little Brown, 1933.
Penguin 229, 1939, 245pp.
---- [xth imp.] 1956, 158pp.
Pan Books G703, 1965, 185pp. Cover by Tayler
---- [2nd imp.] 1966; [3rd imp.] 1967; [4th imp.] 1969; [5th imp.] 1969; [6th imp.] 1970
---- [0330-10715-1] [7th imp.] 1971.
---- [8th imp.] 1973, 185pp, 30p.
Mayflower 0583-12922-6, 1979, 186pp.
Cassell 0304-35695-6, 2000, 185pp.
Phoenix 0753-82914-2, 2011, 185pp.
The Peacemaker. London, Heinemann, and Boston, Little Brown, 1934.
New English Library 0450-00220-9, 1969, 158pp.
Sphere 0733-10463-4, 1979, 185pp.
The African Queen. London, Heinemann, and Boston, Little Brown, 1935.
Penguin 1112, 1956, 189pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1956; [3rd imp.] 1962
---- [4th imp.] 1964, 189pp, 3/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [0140-01112-9] 1980, 190pp.
Phoenix 0753-82079-X, 2006, 189pp.
The General. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1936.
Penguin 1117, 1956, 233pp. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [2nd imp.] 1962
---- [3rd imp.] 1965
---- [4th imp.] 1968
---- [0140-01117-X] [5th imp.] 1972, 233pp, 30p. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [xth imp.] 1979, 234pp.
The Happy Return (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1937; as Beat to Quarters, Boston, Little Brown, 1937.
Penguin 835, 1951, 250pp, 2/-. Cover: design
---- [2nd imp.] 1954
---- [3rd imp.] 1959
---- [4th imp.] 1965, 250pp, 4/-. Cover by Denis Dighton ('The Death of Nelson')
---- [0140-00835-7] [5th imp.] 1969
---- [6th imp.] 1971, 236pp, 30p. Cover by Gekrge Arnald ('Destruction of the Orient')
---- 1980, 237pp.
Flying Colours (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1938; Boston, Little Brown, 1939.
Penguin 1113, 1956, 190pp, 2/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [0140-01113-7] 1980, 190pp.
Penguin 0241-95549-1, 2011, vii+256pp.
A Ship of the Line (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1938; as Ship of the Line, Boston, Little Brown, 1938.
Penguin 1114, 1956, 233pp, 2/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [4th imp.] 4/-.
---- [0140-01114-5] 1980, 233pp.
Penguin 0141-02704-5, 2006, vii+316pp.
The Captain from Connecticut. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1941.
Four Square 27, (Apr) 1958, 255pp, 2/6.
Four Square 927 [2nd imp.] 1963
---- [3rd imp.] Aug 1965, 256pp, 3/6.
Four Square 1988 [?4th imp.] Sep 1968, 5/-.
New English Library, 1970, 256pp.
Sphere 0722-10462-6, 1979, 249pp.
The Ship. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1943.
Penguin 698, 1949, 201pp.
---- [xth imp.] 1956, 187pp.
---- [xth imp.] 1961
---- [xth imp.] 1980, 188pp.
---- [0141-02503-4] 2006, 249pp.
---- [978-0241-95548-2] 2011, 256pp
The Commodore (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1945; as Commodore Hornblower, Boston, Little Brown, 1945.
Penguin 1116, 1956, 271pp, 2/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [2nd imp.] 1962
---- [3rd imp.] 1965
---- [4th imp.] 1967
---- [5th imp.] 1971
---- [6th imp.] 1972, 271pp, 35p. Cover by Nicholas Pocock ('Ships of the East India Company')
---- [xth imp.] 1980, 272pp.
Penguin 0241-95557-2, 2011, vii+364pp.
Lord Hornblower (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1946.
Penguin 1536, 1964, 236pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1967
---- [3rd imp.] 1969
---- [4th imp.] 1971
---- [5th imp.] 1971, 236pp, 30p. Cover by H C Vroom ('The Battle of Gibraltar')
---- [0140-01536-1] 1980, 237pp.
Penguin 0241-95559-9, 2011, vii+306pp.
The Sky and the Forest. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1948.
Four Square 35, (May) 1958, 2/6. Cover by Mortelmans
Four Square 913, 1963, 223pp.
Sphere 0722-10459-6, 1978, 207pp.
New English Library 2149 [0450-00028-1], 1968, 317pp.
Lieutenant Hornblower (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1952.
Pan Books 0330-10256-7, 1957, 253pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1959
---- [3rd imp.] 1963
---- [4th imp.] 1964
---- [5th imp.] 1966
---- [6th imp.] 1968
---- [7th imp.] 1970, 252pp, 25p. Cover by unknown
Sphere 0722-10505-3. 1980, 253pp.
Penguin 0140-11941-8, 1989, 304pp.
Penguin 0140-29465-1, 2001, 304pp.
Penguin 0241-95551-3, 2011, ix+334pp.
Hornblower and the 'Atropos' (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1953.
Pan Books 0330-02325-X, 1969, 284pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1971, 283pp, 30p. Cover by unknown
Sphere 0722-10509-6, 1980, 284pp.
Penguin 0140-11942-6, 1990, 302pp.
Penguin 0241-95552-1, 2011.
The Good Shepherd. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1955.
Four Square 1350, Oct 1965, 188pp, 3/6.
NEL/Four Square 1350 [2nd imp.] Jun 1967, 188pp, 3/6.
NEL/Four Square 2262, (Mar 1968), 5/-.
New English Library [4th imp.] Mar 1970, 188pp.
New English Library 0450-01332-4 [5th imp.] Sep 1972, 188pp, 35p. Cover by Paul Wright?
Sphere 0722-10461-8, 1979, 188pp.
Hornblower in the West Indies (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1958; as Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies, Boston, Little Brown, 1958.
Pan Books G382, 1960, 254pp. Cover by Taylor
---- [2nd imp.] 1962; [3rd imp.] 1963.
Pan Books X142, [4th imp.] 1964, 254pp, 3/6.
---- [0330-10142-0] 255pp
Sphere 0722-10508-8, 1980, 254pp.
Penguin 0140-11943-4, 1990, 283pp.
Penguin 0241-95556-4, 2011, x+364pp.
Hunting the Bismarck. London, Michael Joseph, 1959; as The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck, Boston, Little Brown, 1959; as Sink the Bismarck!, New York, Bantam, 1959.
Mayflower Books 3936, 1966, 118pp.
Mayflower 0583-10388-X [2nd imp.] 1970; 3rd imp. [1970]; [4th imp.] 1971
---- [5th imp.] 1972, 117pp, 25p.
Granada 0583-10388-X, 1980, 118pp.
Hornblower and the Hotspur (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1962.
Penguin 2901, 1968, 302pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1969
---- [3rd imp.] 1970
---- [4th imp.] 1971, 301pp, 35p. Cover by P. J. de Loutherbourg ('The Glorious First of June, 1794')
Penguin 0140-02901-X, 1980, 302pp.
Penguin 0241-95555-6, 2011, vii+416pp.
Hornblower and the Crisis: An Unfinished Novel (includes story `The Last Encounter') (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1967.
Pan Books 0330-02517-1, 1970, 158pp.
Sphere 0722-10506-1, 1980, 158pp, 95p. Cover by Chris Mayger
Penguin 978-0141-02505-6, 2006, 176pp.
The Pursued. London, Penguin, 2011.
Penguin 978-0141-19808-8, 2012, 192pp.
SHORT STORIES
The Paid Piper. London, Methuen, 1924.
(no paperback edition)
Two-and-Twenty. London, John Lane, and New York, Appleton, 1931.
(no paperback edition)
The Nightmare. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1954.
Pan Books G258, 1959, 190pp, 2/6. Cover by P. Green
Panther Books 1866, 1965, 254pp.
New English Library 0450-00450-3, 1970, 126pp.
The Man in the Yellow Raft. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1969.
Pan Books 0330-02742-5, 1971, 189pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1972
---- [3rd imp.] 1973, 189pp, 30p. Cover by Paul Wright
---- [xth imp.] 1977, 189pp.
Gold from Crete. Boston, Little Brown, 1970; London, Michael Joseph, 1971.
Pan Books 0330-23662-8, 1973, 191pp.
Sphere 0722-10458-8, 1978, 206pp.
PLAYS
U 97. London, Lane, 1931.
Nurse Cavell, with C.E. Bechhofer Roberts (produced London, 1934). London, Lane, 1933.
SCREENPLAYS
Forever and a Day, with others, 1944
Captain Horatio Hornblower, with others, 1951.
OTHERS
Napoleon and His Court. London, Methuen, and New York, Dodd Mead, 1924.
(no paperback edition)
Josephine, Napoleon's Empress. London, Methuen, and New York, Dodd Mead, 1925.
(no paperback edition)
Victor Emmanuel II and the Union of Italy. London, Methuen, and New York, Dodd Mead, 1927.
(no paperback edition)
Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre. London, Methuen, and New York, Dodd Mead, 1928.
(no paperback edition)
Nelson. London, John Lane, 1929; as Lord Nelson, Indianapolis, Bobbs Merrill, 1929.
(no paperback edition)
The Voyage of the Annie Marble. London, John Lane, 1929.
(no paperback edition)
The Annie Marble in Germany. London, John Lane, 1930.
(no paperback edition)
Marionettes at Home. London, Michael Joseph, 1936.
(no paperback edition)
The Earthly Paradise. London, Michael Joseph, 1940; as To the Indies, Boston, Little Brown, 1940.
Penguin 1816, 1962, 239pp.
Penguin 0140-01816-6, 1981, 239pp.
Poo-Poo and the Dragons (for children). London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1942.
(no paperback edition)
The Barbary Pirates (for children). New York, Random House, 1953; London, Macdonald, 1956.
New English Library 0450-00213-6, 1968, 124pp.
The Age of Fighting Sail: The Story of the Naval War of 1812. New York, Doubleday, 1956; as The Naval War of 1812, London, Michael Joseph, 1957.
Four Square 72, (Oct) 1958, 2/6.
Four Square 2216, Aug 1968, 223+8pp, 5/-. Cover by unknown
New English Library 0450-00119-9, (1968?), 221pp.
The Hornblower Companion. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1964.
Chatham 1861-76098-1, 1998, 140pp.
Long Before Forty (autobiography). London, Michael Joseph, 1967; Boston, Little Brown, 1968.
(no paperback edition)
Others (Editor)
The Adventures of John Wetherell. New York, Doubleday, 1953; London, Michael Joseph, 1954.
(no paperback edition)
At twenty he was writing for periodicals, and he soon abandoned medicine altogether. His first novel, Payment Deferred, was written at the age of twenty-four and later dramatized and filmed with Charles Loughton in the leading role.
In 1932 Forester was offered a Hollywood contract and from then until 1939 he spent thirteen weeks of every year in America, where he worked on films such as Born for Glory (1935) and Eagle Squadron (1942).
Many of his most successful novels were sea stories, such as the famous 'Hornblower' series. In Hornblower, Forest created the most renowned sailor in contemporary fiction. The first three volumes (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line, Flying Colours) were written as a trilogy, the middle volume of which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. The next two novels in the series (The Commodore, Lord Hornblower) were little more than thinly disguised propaganda, published at the end of the war and using Napoleon as a surrogate Hitler. Hornblower
In all Forester wrote eleven Hornblower novels and a fragment of a twelfth which was published after his death. The published order does not follow Hornblower's career chronologically, and the correct reading order should be: Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, Hornblower and the Hotspur, Hornblower and the Crisis (the unfinished fragment), Hornblower and the Atropos, The Happy Return (US as Beat to Quarters), A Ship of the Line, Flying Colours, The Commodore, Lord Hornblower, Hornblower in the West Indies and 'The Last Encounter', a short story included in Hornblower and the Crisis. Captain Hornblower, R.N. was filmed in 1951.
On the outbreak of war Forester entered the Ministry of Information and later sailed with the Royal Navy's H.M.S. Penelope to collect material for The Ship, to whose officers and ship's company the book was dedicated. He then made a voyage to the Bering Sea to gather material for a similar book on the United States Navy. It was during this trip that he was stricken with arteriosclerosis, a disease which left him crippled. Forester subsequently moved to California with his family and made only occasional visits to England.
Among his many other successful novels may be mentioned The Gun, set during the Peninsular War, The General, set during the Great War, The Earthly Paradise, The Captain from Connecticut, about an American privateer, and The Sky and the Forest.
Forester was married twice: to Kathleen Belcher in 1926 (divorced 1944), with whom he had two sons; and to Dorothy Ellen Foster in 1947. He died on April 2, 1966.
PUBLICATIONS
Novels
A Pawn Among Kings. London, Methuen & Co., 1924.
(no paperback edition)
Payment Deferred. London, John Lane, 1926; Boston, Little Brown, 1942.
Guild Books 421, 1950, 160pp,
Penguin 1111, 1955, 159pp. Cover: design
Pan Books, G628, 1963, 156pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1964
---- [3rd imp.] 1968
---- [0330-10740-2] [4th imp.] 1974, 156pp, 30p. Cover: photo
Mayflower 0583-12819-X, 1978, 157pp.
Penguin 0141-19810-9, 2011, 184pp. Cover by Nick Morley
Love Lies Dreaming. London, John Lane, and Indianapolis, Bobbs Merrill, 1927.
(no paperback edition)
The Wonderful Week. London, John Lane, 1927; as One Wonderful Week, Indianapolis, Bobbs Merrill, 1927.
(no paperback edition)
The Shadow of the Hawk. London, John Lane, 1928; as The Daughter of the Hawk, Indianapolis, Bobbs Merrill, 1928.
(no paperback edition)
Brown on Resolution. London, John Lane, 1929; as Single-Handed, New York, Putnam, 1929.
British Publishers Guild S50, 1943, 142pp. Cover: design
Guild Books 449, (Jul) 1952, 160pp, 2/-. Cover by unknown
Penguin 1118, 1956, 150pp, 2/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
Pan Books G629, 1963, 154pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1964
---- [3rd imp.] 1968
---- [4th imp.] 1970
---- [5th imp.] 1971, 154pp, 20p. Cover by unknown
Mayflower Books 0583-12818-1, 1977, 155pp.
Plain Murder. London, John Lane, 1930; New York, Dell, 1954.
Penguin 842, 1951, 187pp. Cover: design
Pan Books 0330-02577-5, 1970, 155pp. Cover: photo
Mayflower 0583-12821-1, 1978, 155pp. Cover: photo
Penguin 0141-19813-3, 2011, 197pp. Cover by Nick Morley
Death to the French. London, John Lane, 1932; as Rifleman Dodd [with The Gun], Boston, Little Brown, 1943.
Guild Books 439, (May) 1952, 1/6. Cover by James E. McConnell
Penguin 1119, 1956, 159pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1956, 159pp, 2/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
Pan Books, 1963, 154pp.
Mayflower, c.1978.
Cassell 0304-35883-5, 2002, 155pp.
The Gun. London, John Lane, and Boston, Little Brown, 1933.
Penguin 229, 1939, 245pp.
---- [xth imp.] 1956, 158pp.
Pan Books G703, 1965, 185pp. Cover by Tayler
---- [2nd imp.] 1966; [3rd imp.] 1967; [4th imp.] 1969; [5th imp.] 1969; [6th imp.] 1970
---- [0330-10715-1] [7th imp.] 1971.
---- [8th imp.] 1973, 185pp, 30p.
Mayflower 0583-12922-6, 1979, 186pp.
Cassell 0304-35695-6, 2000, 185pp.
Phoenix 0753-82914-2, 2011, 185pp.
The Peacemaker. London, Heinemann, and Boston, Little Brown, 1934.
New English Library 0450-00220-9, 1969, 158pp.
Sphere 0733-10463-4, 1979, 185pp.
The African Queen. London, Heinemann, and Boston, Little Brown, 1935.
Penguin 1112, 1956, 189pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1956; [3rd imp.] 1962
---- [4th imp.] 1964, 189pp, 3/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [0140-01112-9] 1980, 190pp.
Phoenix 0753-82079-X, 2006, 189pp.
The General. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1936.
Penguin 1117, 1956, 233pp. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [2nd imp.] 1962
---- [3rd imp.] 1965
---- [4th imp.] 1968
---- [0140-01117-X] [5th imp.] 1972, 233pp, 30p. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [xth imp.] 1979, 234pp.
The Happy Return (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1937; as Beat to Quarters, Boston, Little Brown, 1937.
Penguin 835, 1951, 250pp, 2/-. Cover: design
---- [2nd imp.] 1954
---- [3rd imp.] 1959
---- [4th imp.] 1965, 250pp, 4/-. Cover by Denis Dighton ('The Death of Nelson')
---- [0140-00835-7] [5th imp.] 1969
---- [6th imp.] 1971, 236pp, 30p. Cover by Gekrge Arnald ('Destruction of the Orient')
---- 1980, 237pp.
Flying Colours (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1938; Boston, Little Brown, 1939.
Penguin 1113, 1956, 190pp, 2/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [0140-01113-7] 1980, 190pp.
Penguin 0241-95549-1, 2011, vii+256pp.
A Ship of the Line (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1938; as Ship of the Line, Boston, Little Brown, 1938.
Penguin 1114, 1956, 233pp, 2/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [4th imp.] 4/-.
---- [0140-01114-5] 1980, 233pp.
Penguin 0141-02704-5, 2006, vii+316pp.
The Captain from Connecticut. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1941.
Four Square 27, (Apr) 1958, 255pp, 2/6.
Four Square 927 [2nd imp.] 1963
---- [3rd imp.] Aug 1965, 256pp, 3/6.
Four Square 1988 [?4th imp.] Sep 1968, 5/-.
New English Library, 1970, 256pp.
Sphere 0722-10462-6, 1979, 249pp.
The Ship. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1943.
Penguin 698, 1949, 201pp.
---- [xth imp.] 1956, 187pp.
---- [xth imp.] 1961
---- [xth imp.] 1980, 188pp.
---- [0141-02503-4] 2006, 249pp.
---- [978-0241-95548-2] 2011, 256pp
The Commodore (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1945; as Commodore Hornblower, Boston, Little Brown, 1945.
Penguin 1116, 1956, 271pp, 2/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [2nd imp.] 1962
---- [3rd imp.] 1965
---- [4th imp.] 1967
---- [5th imp.] 1971
---- [6th imp.] 1972, 271pp, 35p. Cover by Nicholas Pocock ('Ships of the East India Company')
---- [xth imp.] 1980, 272pp.
Penguin 0241-95557-2, 2011, vii+364pp.
Lord Hornblower (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1946.
Penguin 1536, 1964, 236pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1967
---- [3rd imp.] 1969
---- [4th imp.] 1971
---- [5th imp.] 1971, 236pp, 30p. Cover by H C Vroom ('The Battle of Gibraltar')
---- [0140-01536-1] 1980, 237pp.
Penguin 0241-95559-9, 2011, vii+306pp.
The Sky and the Forest. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1948.
Four Square 35, (May) 1958, 2/6. Cover by Mortelmans
Four Square 913, 1963, 223pp.
Sphere 0722-10459-6, 1978, 207pp.
Mr Midshipman Hornblower (Hornblower). London,Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1950.
Penguin 1115, 1956, 252pp, 2/6. Cover by Robin Jacques
---- [2nd imp.] 1958
---- [3rd imp.] 1959
---- [4th imp.] 1965
---- [5th imp.] 1967
---- [6th imp.] 1969
---- [7th imp.] 1970
---- [8th imp.] 1971, 252pp, 30p. Cover by Richard Westall ('Nelson's Encounter with the Spanish Launch')
---- [9th imp.] 1972
---- [10th imp.] 1973
---- ]11th imp.] 1975
---- [12th imp.] 1977, 252pp, 75p. Cover: ditto above
---- [0140-01115-3] 1980, 253pp.
Penguin 0241-95550-5, 2011, x+298pp.
New English Library 2149 [0450-00028-1], 1968, 317pp.
Lieutenant Hornblower (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1952.
Pan Books 0330-10256-7, 1957, 253pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1959
---- [3rd imp.] 1963
---- [4th imp.] 1964
---- [5th imp.] 1966
---- [6th imp.] 1968
---- [7th imp.] 1970, 252pp, 25p. Cover by unknown
Sphere 0722-10505-3. 1980, 253pp.
Penguin 0140-11941-8, 1989, 304pp.
Penguin 0140-29465-1, 2001, 304pp.
Penguin 0241-95551-3, 2011, ix+334pp.
Hornblower and the 'Atropos' (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1953.
Pan Books 0330-02325-X, 1969, 284pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1971, 283pp, 30p. Cover by unknown
Sphere 0722-10509-6, 1980, 284pp.
Penguin 0140-11942-6, 1990, 302pp.
Penguin 0241-95552-1, 2011.
The Good Shepherd. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1955.
Four Square 1350, Oct 1965, 188pp, 3/6.
NEL/Four Square 1350 [2nd imp.] Jun 1967, 188pp, 3/6.
NEL/Four Square 2262, (Mar 1968), 5/-.
New English Library [4th imp.] Mar 1970, 188pp.
New English Library 0450-01332-4 [5th imp.] Sep 1972, 188pp, 35p. Cover by Paul Wright?
Sphere 0722-10461-8, 1979, 188pp.
Hornblower in the West Indies (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1958; as Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies, Boston, Little Brown, 1958.
Pan Books G382, 1960, 254pp. Cover by Taylor
---- [2nd imp.] 1962; [3rd imp.] 1963.
Pan Books X142, [4th imp.] 1964, 254pp, 3/6.
---- [0330-10142-0] 255pp
Sphere 0722-10508-8, 1980, 254pp.
Penguin 0140-11943-4, 1990, 283pp.
Penguin 0241-95556-4, 2011, x+364pp.
Hunting the Bismarck. London, Michael Joseph, 1959; as The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck, Boston, Little Brown, 1959; as Sink the Bismarck!, New York, Bantam, 1959.
Mayflower Books 3936, 1966, 118pp.
Mayflower 0583-10388-X [2nd imp.] 1970; 3rd imp. [1970]; [4th imp.] 1971
---- [5th imp.] 1972, 117pp, 25p.
Granada 0583-10388-X, 1980, 118pp.
Hornblower and the Hotspur (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1962.
Penguin 2901, 1968, 302pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1969
---- [3rd imp.] 1970
---- [4th imp.] 1971, 301pp, 35p. Cover by P. J. de Loutherbourg ('The Glorious First of June, 1794')
Penguin 0140-02901-X, 1980, 302pp.
Penguin 0241-95555-6, 2011, vii+416pp.
Hornblower and the Crisis: An Unfinished Novel (includes story `The Last Encounter') (Hornblower). London, Michael Joseph, 1967.
Pan Books 0330-02517-1, 1970, 158pp.
Sphere 0722-10506-1, 1980, 158pp, 95p. Cover by Chris Mayger
Penguin 978-0141-02505-6, 2006, 176pp.
The Pursued. London, Penguin, 2011.
Penguin 978-0141-19808-8, 2012, 192pp.
SHORT STORIES
The Paid Piper. London, Methuen, 1924.
(no paperback edition)
Two-and-Twenty. London, John Lane, and New York, Appleton, 1931.
(no paperback edition)
The Nightmare. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1954.
Pan Books G258, 1959, 190pp, 2/6. Cover by P. Green
Panther Books 1866, 1965, 254pp.
New English Library 0450-00450-3, 1970, 126pp.
The Man in the Yellow Raft. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1969.
Pan Books 0330-02742-5, 1971, 189pp.
---- [2nd imp.] 1972
---- [3rd imp.] 1973, 189pp, 30p. Cover by Paul Wright
---- [xth imp.] 1977, 189pp.
Gold from Crete. Boston, Little Brown, 1970; London, Michael Joseph, 1971.
Pan Books 0330-23662-8, 1973, 191pp.
Sphere 0722-10458-8, 1978, 206pp.
PLAYS
U 97. London, Lane, 1931.
Nurse Cavell, with C.E. Bechhofer Roberts (produced London, 1934). London, Lane, 1933.
SCREENPLAYS
Forever and a Day, with others, 1944
Captain Horatio Hornblower, with others, 1951.
OTHERS
Napoleon and His Court. London, Methuen, and New York, Dodd Mead, 1924.
(no paperback edition)
Josephine, Napoleon's Empress. London, Methuen, and New York, Dodd Mead, 1925.
(no paperback edition)
Victor Emmanuel II and the Union of Italy. London, Methuen, and New York, Dodd Mead, 1927.
(no paperback edition)
Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre. London, Methuen, and New York, Dodd Mead, 1928.
(no paperback edition)
Nelson. London, John Lane, 1929; as Lord Nelson, Indianapolis, Bobbs Merrill, 1929.
(no paperback edition)
The Voyage of the Annie Marble. London, John Lane, 1929.
(no paperback edition)
The Annie Marble in Germany. London, John Lane, 1930.
(no paperback edition)
Marionettes at Home. London, Michael Joseph, 1936.
(no paperback edition)
The Earthly Paradise. London, Michael Joseph, 1940; as To the Indies, Boston, Little Brown, 1940.
Penguin 1816, 1962, 239pp.
Penguin 0140-01816-6, 1981, 239pp.
Poo-Poo and the Dragons (for children). London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1942.
(no paperback edition)
The Barbary Pirates (for children). New York, Random House, 1953; London, Macdonald, 1956.
New English Library 0450-00213-6, 1968, 124pp.
The Age of Fighting Sail: The Story of the Naval War of 1812. New York, Doubleday, 1956; as The Naval War of 1812, London, Michael Joseph, 1957.
Four Square 72, (Oct) 1958, 2/6.
Four Square 2216, Aug 1968, 223+8pp, 5/-. Cover by unknown
New English Library 0450-00119-9, (1968?), 221pp.
The Hornblower Companion. London, Michael Joseph, and Boston, Little Brown, 1964.
Chatham 1861-76098-1, 1998, 140pp.
Long Before Forty (autobiography). London, Michael Joseph, 1967; Boston, Little Brown, 1968.
(no paperback edition)
Others (Editor)
The Adventures of John Wetherell. New York, Doubleday, 1953; London, Michael Joseph, 1954.
(no paperback edition)
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