The Reverse of the Medal by Patrick O’brian
Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely hailed as the greatest series of historical novels ever written. All eighteen books are to be re-issued in hardback by HarperCollins with stunning new jackets. The Reverse of the Medal is in all respects an unconventional naval tale. Jack Aubrey returns from his duties protecting whalers off South America and is persuaded by a casual acquaintance to make investments in the City on the strength of supposedly certain information. From there he is led into the half worlds of the London criminal underground and of government espionage – the province of his friend, Stephen Maturin, on whom alone he can rely. Those who are already devoted readers of Patrick O’Brian will find here all the brilliance of characterisation and sparkle of dialogue which they have come to expect. For those who read him for the first time there will be the pleasure of discovering, quite unexpectedly, a novelist of unique character.‘…full of the energy that comes from a writer having struck a vein… Patrick O’Brian is unquestionably the Homer of the Napoleonic wars’
James Hamilton- Paterson
‘You are in for the treat of your lives. Thank God for Patrick O’Brian: his genius illuminates the literature of the English language, and lightens the lives of those who read him.’
Kevin Myers, Irish Times
‘Brilliant’
London Review of Books
‘These books are works of scholarship, classics of contemporary literature, joys to read. Savour The Reverse of the Medal – and seek out its predecessors. You rob yourself by neglecting them.’
Western Morning News
‘Taken together the novels are a brilliant achievement. They display staggering erudition on almost all aspects of early nineteenth-century life, with impeccable period detail.’
T.J. Binyon, Times Literary Supplement
Patrick O’Brian, until his death in 2000, was one of our greatest contemporary novelists. He is the author of the acclaimed Aubrey–Maturin tales and the biographer of Joseph Banks and Picasso. He is the author of many other books including Testimonies, and his Collected Short Stories. In 1995 he was the first recipient of the Heywood Hill Prize for a lifetime’s contribution to literature. In the same year he was awarded the CBE. In 1997 he received an honorary doctorate of letters from Trinity College, Dublin. He lived for many years in South West France and he died in Dublin in January 2000.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780002227339 |
| ISBN 10 | 0002227339 |
| Title | The Reverse of the Medal |
| Author | Patrick O'brian |
| Series | Aubrey-Maturin |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding type | Hardback |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Year published | 1998-08-17 |
| Number of pages | 286 |
| Prizes | Winner of Heywood Hill Literary Prize 1995 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |