O’Brian still thrills with collection of travel tales

A Book of Voyages

Patrick O’Brian, who died in 2000 at the age of 85, will be best remembered for his 20-volume run of novels that recount the lives and adventures of Napoleonic War-era Royal Navy Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend, ship’s surgeon, naturalist and spy, Stephen Maturin.

The series has drawn comparisons with the likes of Melville and Conrad, and is ranked by many critics among the finest historical fiction of all time.