The books let you see what it must have been like to sail around the world in the early 1800's on a Man O' War. There are great naval battles with cannons being fired at ships, boarding parties capturing enemy vessels, and the author tries to use real naval engagements to tell the stories.
There are 20 1/3 books in the series. The last book ends mid-sentence with the O'Brian's death.
I had read the first 13 books, and honestly I was about out of steam on the series when I went on vacation last year.
While in Boston we visited the USS Constitution, the oldest commissioned war ship of the Navy.
The Constitution is one of the main ships in The Fortunes of War the sixth book in the series. Captain Aubrey is on board HMS Java and commands two of Java's gun crews during the battle with the Constitution. After the defeat of the Java, Aubrey and Maturin were taken as POWs to Boston on board the Constitution.
Visiting the Constitution in real life definitely made the book come to life! Now I knew what a frigate looked like. I knew what the gun deck was, and why you would clear for action!
Other phrases from the book came into my mind, like 14 inches per man to hang his hammock
We also spent an afternoon in Salem, where we took a ride on the USS Fame, a reproduction of a privateer from the 1820's.
They let me help out a bit with the sails.
The crew was very friendly, and we chatted about reading the Aubrey-Maturin series. When I got home, I couldn't wait to finish!
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