The capture in the novel of the Spanish Cacafuego by the vastly inferior Sophie is based on the real-life capture on 6 May 1801 of the Spanish frigate El Gamo by the British brig-sloop HMS Speedy. [14] [8] One of the most spectacular single-ship victories in British Naval history, [15] the El Gamo incident captured the public imagination and founded the reputation of the Speedy's commander, Thomas Cochrane. [16] Like Aubrey in the book, however, Cochrane did not receive from the Admiralty the promotion and prize money he might have expected from so spectacular a victory. [15] The world is full of well written, colourful characters. You live the history, cheer at victories, mourn at losses and laugh at the humour. ( I may never look at a bear in the same way.

The novel did respectably in Britain ("selling a most surprising number" according to O'Brian), [23] but was not initially successful in the US. [21] O'Brian later commented, "I am sorry to say that the Americans did not like it much at its first appearance (they have changed their minds since, bless them)". [23] Masters of the Battlefield : The World's Greatest Military Commanders and Their Battles, from Alexander the Great to Norman Schwarzkopf The Acheron design presented in the film was constructed by the film's special-effects team who took stem-to-stern digital scans of USS Constitution at her berth in Boston, from which a computer model of Acheron was created. [15] In the first of the series, during a tour of the rigging, Maturin asked his tourguide if he "could not explain this maze of ropes and wood and canvas without using sea-terms" and the reply came "No, for it is by those names alone that they are known, in nearly every case". [15] The Hundred Days". Publishers Weekly. October 1998 . Retrieved 13 March 2015. He offers a wealth of sly humor (Navy officers' talk is ""really not fit for mixed company because of its profoundly nautical character"")Imagine yourself sitting in the music room of the Governor’s House on the island of Minorca in the year 1800, listening to a concert in which you are so transported by the music that your right hand moves in time with the violins – up, down, sideways. Ahhhh… bliss. O'Brian's skills as a writer are almost too numerous to mention. He has invented a world of characters who are far more fun to be with than most real people. His knowledge of naval technology and natural history is profound, so you actually learn quite a bit in every volume. After volume two his skills of plotting and pace reach a near perfect pitch, so each volume reaches a thoroughly compelling emotional crisis (which is not always a naval battle) and comes to a satisfying ending. The naval actions of the novel are closely based on the exploits of Thomas Cochrane (1775–1860), 10th Earl of Dundonald, a notoriously fiery naval captain and later admiral. [1] [10] Cochrane's own ship, HMS Speedy, forms the basis for Aubrey's Sophie. [7]

When reviewing The Wine-Dark Sea in the Hudson Review, Gary Krist is very critical of the plot of the books, suggesting that the books are full of elements of "pop fiction" and O'Brian's excessive "delight in the sheer specificity of seafaring mechanics." [29] However, he did not deny the qualities that "push it close to that great, fuzzy art-entertainment meridian" including character development and at times, "the sense of being in the presence of an active, complex, and compassionate intelligence." [29]a b "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2021 . Retrieved January 10, 2021. Tobias, Scott (January 4, 2019). "Revisiting Hours: Ships Ahoy — 'Master and Commander' ". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019 . Retrieved January 7, 2019.