One of the favorites of “the man” himself. He wrote scores of books including “The African Queen” (made famous by the John Huston movie starred by Bogart and Hepburn). But his masterpiece is the Hornblower series. 11 seafaring volumes that follow the career of Horatio Hornblower in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars.
I’m planning to read them all, starting the fourth so far (and having a blast!).
Here is the list in chronological order (not the order they were written):
Mr Midshipman Hornblower (10 Short stories)
Lieutenant Hornblower
Hornblower and the Hotspur
Hornblower during the Crisis (two short stories and an uncompleted novel; Forester died before completing it)
Hornblower and the Atropos
Beat to Quarters
Ship of the Line
Flying Colours
Commodore Hornblower
Lord Hornblower
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies (short stories)