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Sanford Sternlicht focuses on the life of C.S. Forester, his writing, character models, chronology, the historical background of The Hornblower Saga, and the nautical veracity of the novels and stories that spawned a world-wide readership for Forester.
Part biography and part critical study, this book includes little-known facts about Forester's background and early life in England, his days in Hollywood as a screenwriter, and the genesis of the models for the major characters in the saga - some of whom were friends and acquaintances of Forester's, and some of whom were naval officers of the Napoleonic period. Sternlicht discusses extensively the research and writing techniques Forester used in his depiction of naval warfare and specific campaigns and actions of the Napoleonic period. In addition, Sternlicht offers readings of, and the historical background to, Forester's two other great historical novels, The African Queen and The General.
