C.S. Forester and the Hornblower Saga by Sanford Sternlicht

Sternlicht's brief (177 page) summary of Forester's career and the genesis of Hornblower is an item in which members of this forum may be interested. Originally published in 1981, a revised edition was issued in 1991 as a tie-in to the tv series, and thus has a picture of Ioan Gruffudd on the cover. The book seems to be a compilation drawn from Long before Forty, the Hornblower Companion, and material from the Forester family, but it fills in some gaps in Forester's story. Interestingly, during World War II he was an observer on the USS Tennessee at Kiska as guest of Rear admiral Kinkaid when he was first crippled with atherosclerosis. A useful summary of his career and work, with pretty reasonable assessments of the novels and non-fiction works.

The recent edition is published in paperback by Syracuse University Press, 1999 (ISBN 0 8156 0621 5).