Percival Keene

by Frederick Marryat

Overview

One of Marryat's most entertaining follows adventures, Percival Keene follows namesake character, a low-born seaman, on a mission to discover and claim his true parentage and identity. Young Keene endures battles both great and small, a stint on board a pirate ship, a stormy romance, and near-execution at the hands of Napoleon himself, all told with Marryat's trademark panache. A page-turning nautical yarn with brilliant historical re-creations of life and war at sea.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781976452277
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	10/01/2017
Pages:	162
Product dimensions:	7.01(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.35(d)

About the Author

Frederick Marryat (1792-1848) was an English naval officer and novelist. Born in London, Marryat was raised in a prominent merchant family by Joseph Marryat, a member of Parliament, and his American wife Charlotte. He joined the Royal Navy in 1806 as a midshipman on the HMS Imperieuse, serving under Lord Cochrane. Throughout his naval career, he served on several ships and was present at battles against the French fleet off the coast of Spain. On the HMS Spartan, he fought in the War of 1812 and participated in raids on New England. After the war, he worked as an inventor and artist, patenting a new lifeboat and making a famous sketch of Napoleon on his deathbed in Saint Helena. He retired from the Royal Navy in 1830 to pursue a career as a professional writer, producing nautical novels and finding success with Mr. Midshipman Easy (1836). He frequently based his stories on his own experiences and earned a reputation as a member of Charles Dickens’ influential literary circle. His novels of adventure on the high seas would inspire countless storytellers, including Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, and Joseph Conrad.

What People are Saying About This

Ernest Hemingway

Captain Marryat, Turgenieff, and the late Judge Fielding are my favorite authors.

Virginia Woolf

[Marryat] set[s] us in the midst of ships and men and sea and sky all vivid, credible, authentic.

Joseph Conrad

[Marryat's] adventures are enthralling; the rapidity of his action fascinates…His greatness is undeniable.

Editorial Reviews

Another volume in Holt's ongoing "Heart of the Oak Sea Classics" series, this 1842 novel follows the title character through many adventures on the high seas. LJ reviewer Louis J. Parascandola edited this volume and wrote the introduction.

Library Journal

Vivid, credible, authentic.”

Virginia Woolf

Over [Percival Keene] I have been chuckling, and grinning and clenching my fists, and becoming warlike.”

Charles Dickens

[Marryat’s] adventures are enthralling; the rapidity of his action fascinates…His greatness is undeniable.”

Joseph Conrad

"Vivid, credible, authentic." (Virginia Woolf)

From the Publisher