Command a King's Ship cover art

Command a King's Ship

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Command a King's Ship

By: Alexander Kent
Narrated by: Michael Jayston
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About this listen

 Spithead, 1784. His Majesty's frigate, Undine, sets sail for India and the seas beyond. Europe may be at peace - but in colonial waters the promises of statesmen count for little and the bloody struggle for supremacy still goes on. Richard Bolitho would have cause to remember his admiral's words: 'The task I am giving you would be better handled by a squadron'.

©1975 Alexander Kent (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction War & Military Royalty

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Critic reviews

“One of our foremost writers of naval fiction.” ( Sunday Times, London)
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I am going through these books with some alacrity, they are still as good as I remember from many years ago. This one felt like more of a slow burner and took a while before it really gripped me, I wasn't quite as enamoured with it as most of the others so far. However, by the end there are copious amounts of gun smoke, fallen rigging and intense fighting as Kent moves it towards a cracking finale. Not one of my favourites in the series but overall this is an excellent collection of sea-going adventures!

Not quite so fast-paced . . .

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This one is as good as all the previous ones in the series,still find it hard to stop listening part way through

Another hit

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First such book from Audible and being an ex-sailor it won't be my last. loved the fact it put you in the environment rather than tried to explain all the nuances of the time period.

Great Stort

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always love these books and the performance is always amazing. I would recommend listening to this and the whole series.

loved the quirky story in the west indies

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I suppose this genre really began with Captain Marryat!’s Mr. Midshipman Easy. Hoe er, we ought really thank mr. Forster for the proliferation of writers, who in more contemporary times, have given us so many of these - some more credible than others. They depend largely on being able to follow the careers of their chosen characters through many adventures and promotions.
My only complaint relating to this particular audio book is the strange pronunciation of some words and the odd reversals in pronouncing ‘boy’.

Another good yarn from the era of fighting ships on the sale

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