Long John Silver:the true and eventful History of My Life of Liberty and Adventure as a Gentleman of Fortune and Enemy to Mankind

As a child, when on holiday on my grandparents' farm in southern Queensland, I discovered a small cupboard of books that once belonged to my mother and her brother. Among the books was a copy of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. One of the memorable characters in the book was the pirate, Long John Silver.

In Long John Silver by Bjorn Larsson (translated by Tom Geddes) we have John Silver's account of his long life at sea. The subtitle of the book - the true and eventful History of My Life of Liberty and Adventure as a Gentleman of Fortune and Enemy to Mankind - indicates that this will be a an account of exciting and dangerous exploits.

As John Silver nears the end of his life he realises that he needs to make his story known in contrast to accounts of his deeds and doings perpetrated by others. He is a wanted man and it is inevitable that although he is presently safe on the island of Madagascar he will eventually be discovered. He has no intention of being taken alive. The account of his sea-going adventures will be enjoyed by readers of the books of Patrick O'Brian. 

Throughout the book references to real people are made including Daniel Defoe who he meets researching a book about pirates and pirateering. John Silver provides him with some information on the condition that Silver's name is not mentioned. When John Silver completes his own account of his life at sea he bequeaths it into the care of Jim Hawkins.

All in all this is the story of a sometimes troubled man recounting and justifying the actions of his life at sea.

Post Captain

Patrick O'Brian wrote 21 books in the Aubrey & Maturin series. Post Captain is the second book in the series. There had been a short lull in the war with France but when Englishman Jack Aubrey and Irishman Stephen Maturin were travelling through France they had to hide when the call was made to arrest all Englishmen. They eventually reached safety in Spain.  At Maderia they boarded the East Indiaman, Lord Nelson,which was  returning to England. It proved to be an eventful journey with the ship being captured by the French before being recaptured by the English.

Back in England Jack was looking for a post on a new ship but positions were scarce until eventually he took command of a new untried ship, Polychrest. Jack had no choice but to take the position as he was in debt and bailiffs were after him to arrest him. The only place of safety was aboard ship. The novel basically deals with the rollicking adventures at sea on ships including the Polychrest and its crew, many of who are learning on the job. The book also recounts the tenuous relationships of Jack and Stephen with two women they left behind in England.

I was aware of this series of books when I worked in public libraries but decided to read this one as an article about the ship, Lord Nelson, mentioned that chapter five of this historical fiction novel was based on the capture of the ship in 1802. In 1808 Captain Charles William Hutton was in charge of the ship on its fifth voyage when it disappeared off the coast of Madras.  Captain Hutton was my 4 x great grandfather. I was therefore interested in reading this fictional account of the ship's second voyage and then continued reading the novel.

Lord Nelson East Indiaman - Wikipedia