Overview

The Complete Short Stories is the most comprehensive collection of O’Brian’s short fiction ever published. An essential volume, certain to enchant O’Brian admirers as well as readers who are fortunate enough to be journeying with him for the very first time. Patrick O’Brian is acclaimed as one of the greatest historical novelists of the twentieth century, celebrated throughout the world for his masterful roman fleuve, the Aubrey Maturin series. But he was also a prolific writer of short stories, and it is in this form that he first made his mark. Encompassing stories written in his unvarnished youth to tales told by a seasoned traveller, this is the most comprehensive collection of O’Brian’s short fiction ever published. It is a treasure chest, overflowing with riches, containing more than sixty tales, including rarities, uncollected works, and forgotten jewels that have been out of print for decades. These are stories of friendship, travel, adventure and the wonders of the natural world. Some are enchantingly funny, others exciting, terrifying, passionate. All of them prove Patrick O’Brian to be a true master of the form.

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9780008525439

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Reviews

Praise for PATRICK O'BRIAN 'The greatest historical novelist of all time.' THE TIMES 'There are two types of people in the world: Patrick O'Brian fans, and people who haven't read him yet.' LUCY EYRE, GUARDIAN 'Narrative addicts all have writers to whom they return regularly to cheer or console themselves. Mine are Georgette Heyer, C.S. Forester, Margery Allingham and Dick Francis. I have just discovered another, Patrick O'Brian, and he is in many ways better and more satisfying than any of them.' A.S. BYATT, EVENING STANDARD 'It is his ability to develop character, his delightful humour, and the emotion he can evoke, which keep the reader entranced' TIMOTHY MO, SPECTATOR Praise for THE COLLECTED STORIES 'A Kafka in the countryside . . . O'Brian's accounts of travelling have the clarity of the best descriptive writing . . . The astonishing achievement of these short stories is not just the author's truth to the landscape, but his pitiless vision of the disintegration of personality when a living creature is struggling in a hostile world.' ANTHONY EVERITT, COUNTRY LIFE 'Young writers ought, before lurching into print, to be obliged to learn by heart at least one of Patrick O'Brian's short stories . . . O'Brian writes like a man to whom writing comes as easily as breathing: precisely, fluently, economically . . . perfect cadences.' JANE SHILLING, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'He is more than a merely popular writer. He is a very, very fine one.' CHARLTON HESTON, DAILY TELEGRAPH

Author Information

Patrick O’Brian, until his death in 2000, was one of our greatest contemporary novelists. He is the author of the acclaimed Aubrey–Maturin tales and the biographer of Joseph Banks and Picasso. He is the author of many other books including Testimonies, and his Collected Short Stories. In 1995 he was the first recipient of the Heywood Hill Prize for a lifetime’s contribution to literature. In the same year he was awarded the CBE. In 1997 he received an honorary doctorate of letters from Trinity College, Dublin. He lived for many years in South West France and he died in Dublin in January 2000.

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