Desolation Island
Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 5
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Desolation Island
Buy for $13.48
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Tim Pigott-Smith
-
By:
-
Patrick O'Brian
About this listen
Sent to rescue Governor Bligh, former captain of HMS Bounty, Jack Aubrey sets off for Australia in the Leopold with his friend, Stephen Maturin, and a hold full of convicts in this fifth of the Aubrey/Maturin series.
A beautiful and dangerous spy lurks among these prisoners, as does an even more lethal traveling companion, gaol fever, a treacherous disease that decimates the crew. With a Dutch man-of-war to windward, the under-manned, outgunned Leopold sails for her life into the freezing waters of the Antarctic. There in mountainous seas, the Dutchman closes.
"Good history, espionage, romance and an action at sea that for sheer descriptive power can match anything in fiction." (The Guardian)
Don't miss the rest of the Aubrey/Maturin series.©1978 Patrick O'Brian (P)1999 Random House, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Master and Commander
- Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 1
- By: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,306
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,722
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,692
This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, Royal Navy, and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against the thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the road of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Choice of Narrators
- By Frank R. Adams on 04-23-10
By: Patrick O'Brian
-
The Unknown Shore
- By: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 442
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 337
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 336
Inspired by the Wager disaster, The Unknown Shore is an immediate precursor to Patrick O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey/Maturin series that displays all the splendid prose and attention to detail that delight O'Brian's millions of fans.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
As Good as the Series
- By Robert Goldston on 08-09-06
By: Patrick O'Brian
-
The Golden Ocean
- By: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: John Franklyn-Robbins
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 498
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 407
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 405
In the year 1740, Commodore (later Admiral) George Anson embarked on a voyage that would become one of the most famous exploits in British naval history. Sailing through poorly charted waters, Anson and his men encountered disaster, disease, and astonishing success. They circumnavigated the globe and seized a nearly incalculable sum of Spanish gold and silver, but only one of the five ships survived.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A wonderful prequel to Master and Commander
- By Jeffrey Bernstein on 01-02-11
By: Patrick O'Brian
-
No Man’s Land
- 1918, the Last Year of the Great War
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 25 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 496
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 438
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 436
From freezing infantrymen huddled in bloodied trenches on the front lines to intricate political maneuvering and tense strategy sessions in European capitals, noted historian John Toland tells of the unforgettable final year of the First World War. In this audiobook, participants on both sides, from enlisted men to generals and prime ministers to monarchs, vividly recount the battles, sensational events, and behind-the-scenes strategies that shaped the climactic, terrifying year.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Oddly biased, but worthy account of the period
- By Hellocat on 04-04-18
By: John Toland
-
Endurance
- An Epic of Polar Adventure
- By: F.A. Worsley, Patrick O’Brian - preface
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6
"You seriously mean to tell me that the ship is doomed?" asked Frank Worsley, commander of the Endurance, stuck impassably in Antarctic ice packs. "What the ice gets," replied Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition's unflappable leader, "the ice keeps." It did not, however, get the ship's twenty-five crew members, all of whom survived an eight-hundred-mile voyage across sea, land, and ice to South Georgia, the nearest inhabited island.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best narration possible for this
- By Amazon Customer on 08-19-24
By: F.A. Worsley, and others
-
The Cruel Sea
- By: Nicholas Monsarrat
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,264
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,148
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,143
Darting back and forth across the icy North Atlantic, Compass Rose played a deadly cat-and-mouse game with packs of German U-boats lying in wait beneath the ocean waves. Packed with tension and vivid descriptions of agonizing U-boat hunts, this tale of the most bitter and chilling campaign of the war tells of ordinary men who had to master their own fears before they could face a brutal menace - one that would strike without warning from the deep.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Hard Edged Historical Fiction
- By CLR on 01-20-18
-
Master and Commander
- Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 1
- By: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,306
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,722
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,692
This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, Royal Navy, and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against the thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the road of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Choice of Narrators
- By Frank R. Adams on 04-23-10
By: Patrick O'Brian
-
The Unknown Shore
- By: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 442
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 337
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 336
Inspired by the Wager disaster, The Unknown Shore is an immediate precursor to Patrick O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey/Maturin series that displays all the splendid prose and attention to detail that delight O'Brian's millions of fans.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
As Good as the Series
- By Robert Goldston on 08-09-06
By: Patrick O'Brian
-
The Golden Ocean
- By: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: John Franklyn-Robbins
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 498
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 407
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 405
In the year 1740, Commodore (later Admiral) George Anson embarked on a voyage that would become one of the most famous exploits in British naval history. Sailing through poorly charted waters, Anson and his men encountered disaster, disease, and astonishing success. They circumnavigated the globe and seized a nearly incalculable sum of Spanish gold and silver, but only one of the five ships survived.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A wonderful prequel to Master and Commander
- By Jeffrey Bernstein on 01-02-11
By: Patrick O'Brian
-
No Man’s Land
- 1918, the Last Year of the Great War
- By: John Toland
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 25 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 496
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 438
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 436
From freezing infantrymen huddled in bloodied trenches on the front lines to intricate political maneuvering and tense strategy sessions in European capitals, noted historian John Toland tells of the unforgettable final year of the First World War. In this audiobook, participants on both sides, from enlisted men to generals and prime ministers to monarchs, vividly recount the battles, sensational events, and behind-the-scenes strategies that shaped the climactic, terrifying year.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Oddly biased, but worthy account of the period
- By Hellocat on 04-04-18
By: John Toland
-
Endurance
- An Epic of Polar Adventure
- By: F.A. Worsley, Patrick O’Brian - preface
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6
"You seriously mean to tell me that the ship is doomed?" asked Frank Worsley, commander of the Endurance, stuck impassably in Antarctic ice packs. "What the ice gets," replied Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition's unflappable leader, "the ice keeps." It did not, however, get the ship's twenty-five crew members, all of whom survived an eight-hundred-mile voyage across sea, land, and ice to South Georgia, the nearest inhabited island.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best narration possible for this
- By Amazon Customer on 08-19-24
By: F.A. Worsley, and others
-
The Cruel Sea
- By: Nicholas Monsarrat
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 17 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,264
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,148
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,143
Darting back and forth across the icy North Atlantic, Compass Rose played a deadly cat-and-mouse game with packs of German U-boats lying in wait beneath the ocean waves. Packed with tension and vivid descriptions of agonizing U-boat hunts, this tale of the most bitter and chilling campaign of the war tells of ordinary men who had to master their own fears before they could face a brutal menace - one that would strike without warning from the deep.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Hard Edged Historical Fiction
- By CLR on 01-20-18
-
The Wager
- A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
- By: David Grann
- Narrated by: Dion Graham, David Grann
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,108
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,518
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,516
On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as “the prize of all the oceans,” it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Gasping for Air
- By Jean Engle on 04-19-23
By: David Grann
-
Two Years Before the Mast
- By: Richard Henry Dana
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 16 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 384
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 291
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 285
Richard Henry Dana, a law student turned sailor for health reasons, sailed in 1834 aboard the brig Pilgrim on a voyage from Boston around Cape Horn to California. Drawing from his journals, Two Years Before the Mast gives a vivid and detailed account, shrewdly observed and beautifully described, of a common sailor's wretched treatment at sea, and of a way of life virtually unknown at that time.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Uncommon Common Sailor in the Age of Sail
- By Jefferson on 05-24-13
-
Crash Dive: The Complete Series (Books 1-6)
- By: Craig DiLouie
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 29 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,897
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,609
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,594
Crash Dive: The Complete Series chronicles the adventures of Charlie Harrison as he fights the Imperial Japanese Navy during WW2. Gripping, action-packed, authentic, and filled with larger-than-life men and women of the Greatest Generation, Crash Dive puts you aboard a submarine during the war. You'll stand alongside Charlie as he proves himself time and again by keeping his wits and being decisive in crisis, though each encounter leaves him more heavily scarred for it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great series
- By Old Diamond Jim on 12-30-19
By: Craig DiLouie
-
Six Frigates
- By: Ian W. Toll
- Narrated by: Stephen Lang
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,400
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,150
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,148
Before the ink was dry on the U.S. Constitution, the establishment of a permanent military had become the most divisive issue facing the new government. Would a standing army be the thin end of dictatorship? Would a navy protect American commerce against the Mediterranean pirates, or drain the treasury and provoke hostilities with the great powers? The founders, particularly Jefferson, Madison, and Adams, debated these questions fiercely and switched sides more than once.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
BE ADVISED THIS BOOK IS ABRIDGED
- By George Carpenter III on 09-11-08
By: Ian W. Toll
-
Mutiny on the Bounty
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 22 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 928
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 809
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 805
The mutiny on HMS Bounty, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789, is one of history's truly great stories - a tale of human drama, intrigue and adventure of the highest order - and in the hands of Peter FitzSimons it comes to life as never before. Commissioned by the Royal Navy to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and take them to the West Indies, the Bounty's crew found themselves in a tropical paradise. Five months later, they did not want to leave.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
You don't know the whole story.
- By Justin Sluyter on 05-01-19
By: Peter FitzSimons
-
The Good Shepherd
- By: C.S. Forester
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,684
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,466
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,461
A convoy of 37 merchant ships is ploughing through icy, submarine-infested North Atlantic seas during the most critical days of World War II, when the German submarines had the upper hand and Allied shipping was suffering heavy losses. In charge is Commander George Krause, an untested veteran of the US Navy. Hounded by a wolf pack of German U-boats, he faces 48 hours of desperate peril trapped the bridge of the ship. Exhausted beyond measure, he must make countless and terrible decisions as he leads his small fighting force against the relentless U-boats.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Good Shepherd
- By BookReader on 07-16-20
By: C.S. Forester
-
The Caine Mutiny
- By: Herman Wouk
- Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau
- Length: 26 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,116
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,712
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,704
Having inspired a classic film and Broadway play, The Caine Mutiny is Herman Wouk's boldly dramatic, brilliantly entertaining novel of life—and mutiny—on a Navy warship in the Pacific theater. It was immediately embraced upon its original publication as one of the first serious works of American fiction to grapple with the moral complexities and the human consequences of the Second World War. In the intervening half century, this gripping story has become a perennial favorite, selling millions throughout the world, and claiming the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Even Better than the Movie
- By James on 06-20-12
By: Herman Wouk
-
Midshipman Bolitho
- By: Alexander Kent
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 311
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 263
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 264
October 1772, Portsmouth. Sixteen-year-old Richard Bolitho waits to join the Gorgon, ordered to sail to the west coast of Africa and to destroy those who challenge the King's Navy. For Bolitho, and for many of the crew, it is a severe and testing initiation into the game of seamanship.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
This is *not* the book advertised.
- By Robert Bolin on 08-26-16
By: Alexander Kent
-
The Name of the Rose
- By: Umberto Eco, William Weaver - translator
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett, Neville Jason, Nicholas Rowe
- Length: 21 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,665
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,379
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,381
The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. But his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths that take place in seven days and nights of apocalyptic terror. Brother William turns detective, and a uniquely deft one at that. His tools are the logic of Aristotle, the theology of Aquinas, the empirical insights of Roger Bacon-- all sharpened to a glistening edge by his wry humor and ferocious curiosity.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The meaning of the mystery & mystery of meaning
- By Ryan on 02-14-14
By: Umberto Eco, and others
-
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
- By: Edmund Morris
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 26 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 4,588
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,003
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,986
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time. Described by the Chicago Tribune as "a classic", The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt stands as one of the greatest biographies of our time. The publication of The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt on September 14th, 2001 marks the 100th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt becoming president.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very, very good, but very, very long.
- By Mike From Mesa on 03-29-13
By: Edmund Morris
-
His Majesty's Dragon
- Temeraire, Book 1
- By: Naomi Novik
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,832
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,779
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,779
When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo - an unhatched dragon egg - fate sweeps Captain Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent AU period fantasy
- By Melanie on 07-08-10
By: Naomi Novik
-
The Shores of Tripoli
- Lieutenant Putnam and the Barbary Pirates
- By: James L. Haley
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 323
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 298
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 295
It is 1801, and President Thomas Jefferson has assembled a deep-water navy to fight the growing threat of piracy, as American civilians are regularly kidnapped by Islamist brigands and held for ransom, enslaved, or killed, all at their captors' whim. The Berber States of North Africa, especially Tripoli, claimed their faith gave them the right to pillage anyone who did not submit to their religion.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Listen to the sample
- By Mike on 10-30-18
By: James L. Haley
Critic reviews
"O'Brian is not that hard a taste to acquire, but he is very tough to shake...[the Aubrey/Maturin series] is a great work." (Boston Globe)
Related to this topic
-
Master and Commander
- Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 1
- By: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,306
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,722
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,692
This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, Royal Navy, and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against the thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the road of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Choice of Narrators
- By Frank R. Adams on 04-23-10
By: Patrick O'Brian
-
Under Enemy Colors
- By: S. Thomas Russell
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 617
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 458
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 458
At the time of the French Revolution, one of Britain's most skillful naval officers, Charles Saunders Hayden, is a young lieutenant, the son of an English father and a French mother. His abilities and his loyalty to the king of England are beyond dispute, yet his career seems doomed by his "mixed" heritage and lack of political connections. Consequently, Hayden is assigned to an aging frigate, the Themis, under the command of Captain Josiah Hart, a man known as "Faint Hart" throughout the service.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect for first timer
- By Blackmac on 08-07-08
-
Mr Midshipman Hornblower
- By: C. S. Forester
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,912
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,713
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,697
Shaking off this label, a shy and lonely 17-year-old, Horatio Hornblower, embarks on a memorable career in Nelson's navy on HMS Justinian. In action, adventure, and battle he is forged into one of the most formidable junior officers in the service.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
First rate historical fiction
- By Jason on 04-30-17
By: C. S. Forester
-
Mutiny on the Bounty
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 22 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 928
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 809
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 805
The mutiny on HMS Bounty, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789, is one of history's truly great stories - a tale of human drama, intrigue and adventure of the highest order - and in the hands of Peter FitzSimons it comes to life as never before. Commissioned by the Royal Navy to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and take them to the West Indies, the Bounty's crew found themselves in a tropical paradise. Five months later, they did not want to leave.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
You don't know the whole story.
- By Justin Sluyter on 05-01-19
By: Peter FitzSimons
-
Ramage
- The Lord Ramage Novels, Book 1
- By: Dudley Pope
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 195
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 174
In a daring foray, under the very nose of the French Mediterranean fleet, Lieutenant Lord Nicholas Ramage is to sail his tiny cutter close in to the Italian shore and rescue a party of stranded aristocrats from Napoleon's fast-advancing army.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engaging
- By Jean on 10-04-14
By: Dudley Pope
-
The Mutiny of the Elsinore
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: John Bolen
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Life has lost its savor for Mr. Pathurst. New York, fame, women, the arts, have all become tedious. Searching for excitement, he books passage on a cargo vessel sailing from Baltimore to Seattle on a route that travels around the treacherous Cape Horn.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Just can't listen
- By Michael on 06-25-05
By: Jack London
-
Master and Commander
- Aubrey/Maturin Series, Book 1
- By: Patrick O'Brian
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,306
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,722
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,692
This, the first in the splendid series of Jack Aubrey novels, establishes the friendship between Captain Aubrey, Royal Navy, and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against the thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. Details of life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy are faultlessly rendered: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the road of broadsides as the great ships close in battle.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Choice of Narrators
- By Frank R. Adams on 04-23-10
By: Patrick O'Brian
-
Under Enemy Colors
- By: S. Thomas Russell
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 617
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 458
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 458
At the time of the French Revolution, one of Britain's most skillful naval officers, Charles Saunders Hayden, is a young lieutenant, the son of an English father and a French mother. His abilities and his loyalty to the king of England are beyond dispute, yet his career seems doomed by his "mixed" heritage and lack of political connections. Consequently, Hayden is assigned to an aging frigate, the Themis, under the command of Captain Josiah Hart, a man known as "Faint Hart" throughout the service.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect for first timer
- By Blackmac on 08-07-08
-
Mr Midshipman Hornblower
- By: C. S. Forester
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,912
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,713
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,697
Shaking off this label, a shy and lonely 17-year-old, Horatio Hornblower, embarks on a memorable career in Nelson's navy on HMS Justinian. In action, adventure, and battle he is forged into one of the most formidable junior officers in the service.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
First rate historical fiction
- By Jason on 04-30-17
By: C. S. Forester
-
Mutiny on the Bounty
- By: Peter FitzSimons
- Narrated by: Michael Carman
- Length: 22 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 928
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 809
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 805
The mutiny on HMS Bounty, in the South Pacific on 28 April 1789, is one of history's truly great stories - a tale of human drama, intrigue and adventure of the highest order - and in the hands of Peter FitzSimons it comes to life as never before. Commissioned by the Royal Navy to collect breadfruit plants from Tahiti and take them to the West Indies, the Bounty's crew found themselves in a tropical paradise. Five months later, they did not want to leave.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
You don't know the whole story.
- By Justin Sluyter on 05-01-19
By: Peter FitzSimons
-
Ramage
- The Lord Ramage Novels, Book 1
- By: Dudley Pope
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 195
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 174
In a daring foray, under the very nose of the French Mediterranean fleet, Lieutenant Lord Nicholas Ramage is to sail his tiny cutter close in to the Italian shore and rescue a party of stranded aristocrats from Napoleon's fast-advancing army.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Engaging
- By Jean on 10-04-14
By: Dudley Pope
-
The Mutiny of the Elsinore
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: John Bolen
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Life has lost its savor for Mr. Pathurst. New York, fame, women, the arts, have all become tedious. Searching for excitement, he books passage on a cargo vessel sailing from Baltimore to Seattle on a route that travels around the treacherous Cape Horn.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Just can't listen
- By Michael on 06-25-05
By: Jack London
-
A Beautiful Blue Death
- Charles Lenox Mysteries Series #1
- By: Charles Finch
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,281
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,135
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,134
Charles Lenox, Victorian gentleman and armchair explorer, likes nothing more than to relax in his private study with a cup of tea, a roaring fire and a good book. But when his lifelong friend Lady Jane asks for his help, Lenox cannot resist the chance to unravel a mystery. Prudence Smith, one of Jane's former servants, is dead of an apparent suicide. But Lenox suspects something far more sinister: murder, by a rare and deadly poison.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I like cozy
- By Sheryl on 05-21-12
By: Charles Finch
-
Midshipman Bolitho
- By: Alexander Kent
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 311
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 263
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 264
October 1772, Portsmouth. Sixteen-year-old Richard Bolitho waits to join the Gorgon, ordered to sail to the west coast of Africa and to destroy those who challenge the King's Navy. For Bolitho, and for many of the crew, it is a severe and testing initiation into the game of seamanship.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
This is *not* the book advertised.
- By Robert Bolin on 08-26-16
By: Alexander Kent
-
Treasure Island
- By: Robert Louis Stevenson
- Narrated by: Tim Gregory
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
Clear the decks for one of the greatest swashbuckling stories ever told. Masterfully crafted, Treasure Island is a stunning yarn of piracy on the fiery tropic seas, an unforgettable tale of treachery that embroils a host of legendary swashbucklers, from honest young Jim Hawkins to sinister, two-timing Israel Hands, to evil incarnate, blind Pew.
-
By the Mast Divided
- John Pearce, Book 1
- By: David Donachie
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 169
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 110
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.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Didn't work for me
- By Michael E on 07-23-08
By: David Donachie
-
The Sea Wolf
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Jack London worshiped strong and virtuous heroes, and his stories give great weight to the inevitable triumph of good over evil. His telling of the adventures of Humphrey van Weydon in The Sea Wolf is in keeping with this theme of moral man. His powerful and gripping saga of van Weydon's capture by a seal-hunting ship and the ensuing tangles with its dreaded captain, Wolf Larsen, makes this a classic American tale of peril and victory.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I won the lottery!
- By Bill on 08-11-17
By: Jack London
-
Sacred Hunger
- By: Barry Unsworth
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 22 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 181
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 179
In this Booker Prize-winning work, Barry Unsworth follows the failing fortunes of William Kemp, a merchant pinning his last chance to a slave ship; his son, who needs a fortune because he is in love with an upper-class woman; and his nephew, who sails on the ship as its doctor because he has lost all he has loved. The voyage meets its demise when disease spreads among the slaves and the captain's drastic response provokes a mutiny.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wise, Perceptive, Heart-breaking
- By S. Coldsmith on 04-16-16
By: Barry Unsworth
-
Billy Budd
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 50
On one level...Melville’s tale is an historical adventure telling the story of life aboard ship shortly after the mutiny at Spithead in 1797. Billy is taken from a homeward bound merchantman to serve on the ‘Seventy Four’ HMS Indomitable. He falls foul of Claggart, the ‘Master at Arms’, and the final confrontation results in death. Billy becomes an unwilling martyr - what passes for justice must be implemented because of the rebellious climate of the time.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well done, a pleasure to listen to!
- By Kindle Customer on 10-17-18
By: Herman Melville
-
The House of the Four Winds
- One Dozen Daughters, Book 1
- By: Mercedes Lackey, James Mallory
- Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 357
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 318
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 319
The rulers of tiny, impoverished Swansgaard have twelve daughters and one son. While the prince’s future is assured, his twelve sisters must find their own fortunes. Disguising herself as Clarence, Princess Clarice intends to sail to the New World. When the crew rebels, Clarice/Clarence, an expert with rapier and dagger, sides with the handsome navigator, Dominick, and kills the cruel captain. Dominick leads the now - outlawed crew in search of treasure in the secret pirate haven known as The House of the Four Winds.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Solid story, but this one is popcorn
- By Phillip on 09-19-14
By: Mercedes Lackey, and others
-
Sailing Alone Around the World
- By: Joshua Slocum
- Narrated by: Alan Sklar
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 204
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 113
Joshua Slocum was believed to be the first man to sail single-handed around the world. After a distinguished career, where he worked his way up from cabin boy to captain, Joshua Slocum wrecked his ship off the coast of Brazil. Turning this catastrophe to his advantage, he built a sailing canoe from the wreckage and sailed back to New York. Moreover, he wrote Voyage of the Liberdad, a chronicle of his trip, and earned some literary success.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A REMARKABLE MAN
- By Rod on 05-03-06
By: Joshua Slocum
-
The King's Coat
- By: Dewey Lambdin
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 733
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 628
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 621
It is 1780, and 17-year-old Alan Lewrie is a brash, rebellious young libertine. So much so that his callous father believes a bit of naval discipline will turn the boy around. Fresh aboard the tall-masted Ariadne, Midshipman Lewrie heads for the war-torn Americas, finding - rather unexpectedly - that he is a born sailor, equally at home with the randy pleasures of the port and the raging battles on the high seas. But in a hail of cannonballs comes a bawdy surprise.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
"Sex, Swords, Sailing Ships"
- By Andrew on 05-16-10
By: Dewey Lambdin
-
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
- By: Howard Pyle, Merle Johnson
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 163
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 112
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 111
Merle Johnson has here gathered together in one volume all of the nineteenth-century author-artist's classic pirate stories that had been scattered through many magazines and books. Well researched and with richly drawn characters, Pyle's work will appeal to students of history and adventure lovers alike.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating and wonderfully read
- By Fletch on 09-08-06
By: Howard Pyle, and others
-
A High Wind in Jamaica
- By: Richard Hughes
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 167
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 167
Set in the 19th century against a backdrop of island life and the vast surrounding seas, A High Wind in Jamaica is the gripping story of the Bas-Thornton children, whose parents send them back to England following a hurricane in the postcolonial Caribbean they call home. Having set sail, the children quickly fall into the hands of pirates. As their voyage continues, things take an awful turn
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Prose that reads like a Child's Fever Dream
- By Darwin8u on 01-02-17
By: Richard Hughes
What listeners say about Desolation Island
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
- P. McBride
- 05-07-16
Narrator's accents are annoying
I love the book, but not Piggot-Smith's narration. The Irish accent he lends Maturin is distracting, and his American accent for Mrs. Wogan is worse. Far worse. I much prefer Simon Vance's narration of this series.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 06-27-03
good book
I read this series several years ago, and when I say it available on Audible, I was very happy. I prefer unadbridged versions, but this one was abridged quite nicely, without taking away from the story. If you want to know what the sailors life was like during the late 1700's early 1800's this series of books is unsurpassed. I only give it 4 of 5 because: its abridged, and at 5 hours, it could be priced a little lower.
Tim Pigott-Smith does a good job of narration, making the book enjoyable to listen to.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
- K. Ray
- 11-14-04
Great news, good news, bad news
The great news is that this is a terrific series, as you can tell by reading the reviews of other titles. It is fun. It is easy to listen to. Even the naval jargon becomes clearer as you go through the stories.
The bad news about this particular audiobook is that it is abridged. The books follow a rhythm, like a voyage, and abridgement destroys that. Also, you are always wondering what you missed.
The good news is Tim Pigott-Smith, who is the best of the readers. For the accents of the characters, particularly, he is just right!
Overall, it's worth the abridgement to get the excellent narration.
Now, UNabridged AND Tim Pigott-Smith..... wow.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful