Hornblower in the West Indies.. a review

Chronologically, and rather sadly, this is the last book Forester wrote about Hornblower...  Forester wrote the whole series somewhat out of order, but if you order them by the period they depict, then this one set in the 1820's marks the end of Hornblower's career - my thanks to Wikipedia for the content of the following....

The one's in bold are the novels that I read - there are a number of other short story's that he also wrote, which are difficult to get hold of as they were published in various magazines and periodicals of the time....  the last book Forester wrote was "Hornblower and the Crisis" which was unfinished, as he died during the writing of it - I've read various reviews, and like the last Aubrey novel, which was also unfinished, I chose not to read it...

UK Title	Story Dates	Notes
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower	Jan 1794–Mar 1798	Novel
Hornblower and the Hand of Destiny	Oct 1796–Dec 1796	Short story
Hornblower and the Big Decision	1799	Short story subsequently published as Hornblower and the Widow McCool in Hornblower and the Crisis
Lieutenant Hornblower	May 1800–Mar 1803	Novel
Hornblower and the Hotspur	Apr 1803–Jul 1805	Novel
Hornblower and the Crisis	Aug 1805–Dec 1805	Novel (unfinished) plus Hornblower and the Widow McCool and The Last Encounter
Hornblower and the Atropos	Dec 1805–Jan 1808	Novel
The Happy Return	Jun 1808–Oct 1808	Novel
A Ship of the Line	May 1810–Oct 1810	Novel
Hornblower's Charitable Offering	Jun 1810	Short story that reads like a chapter of A Ship of the Line
Flying Colours	Nov 1810–Jun 1811	Novel
Hornblower and His Majesty	1812	Short story
The Commodore	Apr 1812–Dec 1812	Novel
Lord Hornblower	Oct 1813–Jun 1814	Novel
Hornblower in the West Indies	May 1821–Oct 1823	Novel
The Last Encounter	Nov 1848	Short story subsequently published in Hornblower During the Crisis

Returning to the subject however, Hornblower in the West Indies is not a single story, but rather a series of novella's all linked together (similar to Mr Midshipman Hornblower). It is set against the background of his command of the West Indies station (ie. the Caribbean  across to the coast of South America), with a squadron consisting of three frigates and fourteen brigs and schooners. In the book he fights pirates, stymies an attempt by veterans of the Imperial Guard to release Bonaparte, captures a slaver under trying circumstances, gets involved in the revolution lead by Simon Bolivar, and at the end survives a hurricane on his return home...  lots of action and Hornblower shows no signs of easing up on himself - he continues to be one of the most self critical hero's of any book in English literature. I prefer the single story format, but this is a fitting end to a fantastic series ...  very recommended....  8/10