Authors: Alexander Kent

Heart of Oak (36 page)

BOOK: Heart of Oak

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C
HRONOLOGY OF THE
B
OLITHO
N
OVELS
:

1756	Richard born in Falmouth, son of James Bolitho
1768	Entered the Kig’s service as a midshipman in Manxman
1772–74	Midshipman, Gorgon and Avenger (The Complete Midshipman Bolitho)
1774	Promoted Lieutenant, Destiny ; Rio and the Caribbean (Stand into Danger)
1775–77	Lieutenant, Trojan , during the American Revolution. Later appointed prizemaster (In Gallant Company)
1778	Promoted Commander, Sparrow ; Battle of the Chesapeake (Sloop of War)
1780	Birth of Adam, illegitimate son of Hugh Bolitho and Kerenza Pascoe
1782	Promoted Captain, Phalarope; West Indies; Battle of Saintes (To Glory We Steer)
1784	Captain, Undine; India and East Indies (Command a King’s Ship)
1787	Captain, Tempest ; Great South Sea; Tahiti; suffered serious fever (Passage to Mutiny)
1792	Captain, the Nore; Recruiting (With All Despatch)
1793	Captain, Hyperion; Mediterranean; Bay of Biscay; West Indies. Adam Pascoe, later Bolitho, enters the King’s service as a midshipman aboard Hyperion (Form Line of Battle! and Enemy in Sight!)
1795	Promoted Flag Captain, Euryalus; involved in the Great Mutiny; Mediterranean; promoted Commodore (The Flag Captain)
1798	Battle of the Nile (Signal–Close Action!)
1800	Promoted Rear-Admiral; Baltic (The Inshore Squadron)
1801	Biscay; Prisoner of war (A Tradition of Victory)
1802	Promoted Vice-Admiral; West Indies (Success to the Brave)
1803	Mediterranean (Colours Aloft!)
1805	Battle of Trafalgar (Honour This Day)
1806–07	Good Hope and the second battle of Copenhagen (The Only Victor)
1808	Shipwrecked off Africa (Beyond the Reef)
1809–10	Mauritius campaign (The Darkening Sea)
1812	Promoted Admiral; second American war (For My Country’s Freedom)
1814	Defence of Canada (Cross of St George)
1815	Richard Bolitho killed in action (Sword of Honour) . Adam Bolitho, Captain, Unrivalled ; Mediterranean (Second to None)
1816	Anti-slavery patrols; Sierra Leone; Battle of Algiers (Relentless Pursuit)
1817	Flag Captain, Athena ; Antigua and Caribbean (Man of War)
1818	Captain, Onward ; Mediterranean (Heart of Oak)

is the pen name of British author Douglas Reeman. Reeman joined the Royal Navy at sixteen, serving on destroyers and small craft during WWII. After the war, he turned to writing, publishing numerous books under his own name, and the Bolitho series under the Kent pseudonym. The immensely popular Bolitho novels have been translated into nearly two dozen languages. Reeman lives with his wife, Kim, in Surrey, England. Among his prize possessions are Horatio Nelson’s armchair from the
Victory
, and a replica thirty-two-pounder cannon, which he keeps vigilantly pointed toward France.