The Unknown Shore by O'brian, Patrick - 1996

US: W. W. Norton & Company, 1996. Paperback. Very Good. A copy that has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. An immediate precursor to Patrick O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey/Maturin series , displaying all the splendid prose and attention to detail that O'Brian's readers expect. Patrick O'Brian's first novel about the sea, The Golden Ocean, took inspira tion from Commodore George Anson's fateful circumnavigation of the globe in 1740. In The Unknown Shore, O'Brian returns to this rich source and mines it brilliantly for another, quite different tale of exploration and adventu re. The Wager was parted from Anson's squadron in the fierce storms off Cape Ho rn and struggled alone up the coast of Chile until she was driven against t he rocks and sank. The survivors were soon involved in trouble of every kin d. A surplus of rum, a disappearing stock of food, and a hard, detested cap tain soon drove them into drunkenness, mutiny, and bloodshed. After many mo nths of privation, a handful of men made their way northward under the guid ance of a band of Indians, at last finding safety in Valparaiso. This saga of survival is the background to the adventures of two young men aboard the Wager: midshipman Jack Byron and his friend Tobias Barrow, an alarmingly naive surgeon's mate. Patrick O'Brian's many devoted readers will take particular interest in this story, as Jack and Toby form a kind of blueprint for Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, the famed heroes of the great Aubrey/Maturin series to come.