The Patrick O'Brian Compendium

The Patrick O'Brian Compendium^{^{^{^{^{^©}}}}}

Dean H. King has been instrumental in helping readers worldwide get a better understanding of all the concepts, geography, history and culture in Patrick O'Brian's work. He also gives those of us who have read all the Aubrey/Maturin series more books to feast on. Your webmaster still keeps a copy of Sea of Words nearby as he re-reads the A/M series.

The July/August 2006 edition of Bookmarks Magazine has an great article by Dean - 101 Crackerjack Sea Books. Yes, the Aubrey/Maturin series is in there (as one selection) but you may not have heard of the 100 others. Plenty there to keep anyone busy for quite some time.

The official Dean King web site is here.

Skeletons on the Zahara

His latest, an amazing tale of shipwreck and survival in Africa in the early decades of the 19th century. Review here.

See the Skeletons on the Zahara special on TV's The History Channel, Saturday, October 28th at 8 PM.

Dean King at the 2004 Virginia Festival of the Book, leading the discussion session "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"

Click on any title listed to read reviews or purchase from Amazon.

Patrick O'Brian: A Life Revealed

A complete and sympathetic biography, wherein we find that Jack Aubrey and Steven Maturin may not have been the only fictional characters. Kudos may be found here.

Harbors and High Seas

Now in the 3rd Edition - a synopsis of each Aubrey/Maturin book, with maps of the voyage (even to the fictional destinations) and descriptions of the most important items in each work.

Here's what others say about this work

A Sea of Words

Also in the 3rd Edition - indispensable reference to almost all the terms in the Aubrey/Maturin series, organized alphabetically, with several informative essays about the Napoleonic era at sea. Find out what a galipot really is.

The reviews are here.

Every Man Will Do His Duty

A collection of descriptions of life in the Napoleonic era, as told by real-life sailors and others. Not everyone got to sail with the likes of Jack Aubrey.

Universal acclaim located here.

Heart of Oak Sea Classic Series is edited by Dean King. They are all very good companions to the Aubrey/Maturin series, giving different perspectives on the events of the Napoleonic era. Click on any title listed to read reviews or purchase from Amazon.

The Black Ship	An account of the mutiny of the crew of the H.M.S. Hermione, in which the real-life H.M.S. Surprise played a key role

Decision at Trafalgar	Contains a unique social history of the decisive battle at Trafalgar, including what it meant to the English people and the environment surrounding it. Much more than just a description of the battle, though that's in there, too

Doctor Dogbody's Leg	Tongue-in-cheek tall tales from one naval surgeon's perspective

Lord Cochrane, Seaman, Radical, Liberator : A Life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald	The real-life captain of H.M.S. Surprise, after whom Patrick O'Brian modeled several events in Jack Aubrey's career

Mr. Midshipman Easy	A very readable account of Frederick Marryat's voyages with Lord Thomas Cochrane

Percival Keene	Rags-to-riches at sea, in which the title character meets Napoleon

Peter Simple	A good account of life aboard ship, but told from the point-of-view of the lower deck. Those tars seem to have to have an awful lot of fun at each other's expense

The Rover	Vintage Joseph Conrad (his last book) lots of subtle philosophical insights into the period of the French Revolution and the age of Napoleon

The Wing-And-Wing or Le Feu-Folet : A Tale	By James Fenimore Cooper, this one is a tad windy, if you get my drift (and if you have tried to read Last of the Mohicans, you will)


The best place to get the works of Dean King or Patrick O'Brian (a portion of the proceeds support this website)