By the Mast Divided cover art

By the Mast Divided

John Pearce, Book 1

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By the Mast Divided

By: David Donachie
Narrated by: Peter Wickham
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About this listen

 London: 1793. Young firebrand John Pearce, on the run from the authorities, is illegally press-ganged from the Pelican tavern into brutal life aboard HMS Brilliant, a frigate on her way to war. In the first few days, Pearce discovers the Navy is a world in which he can prosper. And he is not alone; he is drawn to a group of men who eventually form an exclusive gun crew, the Pelicans, with Pearce their elected leader. During an action-packed two weeks, as HMS Brilliant chases a French privateer across the English Channel, these disparate men form friendships that will last a lifetime.©2004 David Donachie (P)2007 Soundings Action & Adventure Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Sea Adventures War & Military Adventure War

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All stars
Most relevant  
Loved this reading from the first word. Scene is set. Heroes and Villains named. Looking forward to book 2

Great story

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A good tale, accurate and interesting sailing. As an avid O’Brien fan I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

Great listen, gripping tale.

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a good story. well read. characters well developed. looking forward to the next one. I didn't think it was overly detailed as some commented.

great first book

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I love these types of adventure stories, the historical navy terminology and loves of the mariners

the wonderful characters brought to life by Peter Dickgam

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If your like navy novels from the Naboleon time and if your liked Dudley Pope and Ellis K. Meacham you will like this serie.

Like Dudley Pope and Ellis K. Meacham

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

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Good read

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Author has sadly passed away leaving the story unfinished. Have been listening for over a year. While this is sad, I would have not committed the time or money into this story

Author has passed away leaving story unfinished

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It's hard to assess this book. I knew it would be well read as I've previously bought a couple of Kate Ellis audiobooks and enjoyed Peter Wickham's narration. By The Mast Divided is clearly well researched with painstaking attention to detail. The problem I found is that the descriptions of activities and the development of the characters are done so thoroughly that it takes most of the pace out of the story. Almost all of part one - just over seven hours of listening - is over and all we've done is get the main characters pressed into naval service and leaving English shores. I feel a bit of a misery criticising the book because the quality of the writing is very good. However, I found myself 'tuning out' for a few minutes, then paying attention again and finding I hadn't missed much! On the basis of this, I much prefer Bernard Cornwell to David Donachie when we're fighting the French and the officer classes!

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