The Mauritius Command is a historical naval novel by Patrick O'Brian. It is fourth in the series of stories that follow the partnership of Captain Jack Aubrey and the naval surgeon Stephen Maturin. It retells in fictional form the real campaign carried out by the Royal Navy in 1810 under Commodore Josias Rowley. As is common to most of the stories, Aubrey's inspired tactical seamanship is a suitable foil for the dramatic and "Machiavellian" schem...
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The Mauritius Command is a historical naval novel by Patrick O'Brian. It is fourth in the series of stories that follow the partnership of Captain Jack Aubrey and the naval surgeon Stephen Maturin. It retells in fictional form the real campaign carried out by the Royal Navy in 1810 under Commodore Josias Rowley. As is common to most of the stories, Aubrey's inspired tactical seamanship is a suitable foil for the dramatic and "Machiavellian" scheming of his medical man and intelligence expert Maturin. Both Britain and France need to protect their trade routes and prey on the enemy in the Indian Ocean. Mauritius and La Réunion are suitably placed to be desirable bases for both countries. At the start of the book the French hold the islands and are capturing British ships.
The novel sees Aubrey made Commodore in charge of a squadron of ships sent to take the islands of Mauritius and Réunion from the French, and so protect British shipping interests in the Indian Ocean.
When the novel...
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