Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (27 August 1899 – 2 April 1966), known by his pen name Cecil Scott "C. S." Forester, was an English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the 12-book

Horatio Hornblower Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films, radio and television programmes, an ...

series depicting a Royal Navy officer during the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. The Hornblower novels ''

A Ship of the Line ''A Ship of the Line'' is an historical seafaring novel by C. S. Forester. It follows his fictional hero Horatio Hornblower during his tour as captain of a ship of the line. By internal chronology, ''A Ship of the Line'', which follows ''The ...

'' and '' Flying Colours'' were jointly awarded the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Unit ...

for fiction in 1938. His other works include '' The African Queen'' (1935; turned into a 1951 film by

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter, actor and visual artist. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered ...

) and '' The Good Shepherd'' (1955; turned into a 2020 film, ''Greyhound'', adapted by and starring

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Early years

Forester was born in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. After the family broke up when he was still at an early age his mother took him with her to London, where he was educated at

Alleyn's School Alleyn's School is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Church of England, day school and sixth form in Dulwich, London, England. It is a registered charity and was originally part of Ed ...

and

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

. He began to study medicine at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

, but left without completing his degree. He was of good height and somewhat athletic, but wore glasses and had a slender physique, so he failed his Army physical and was told that there was no chance that he would be accepted. He began writing seriously, using his pen name, in around 1921.

Second World War

During the Second World War Forester moved to the United States, where he worked for the

British Ministry of Information The Ministry of Information (MOI), headed by the Minister of Information, was a United Kingdom government department created briefly at the end of the First World War and again during the Second World War. Located in Senate House at the Univer ...

and wrote propaganda to encourage the U.S. to join the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. He eventually settled in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

. In 1942, while he was living in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, he met

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

and encouraged him to write about his experiences in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

.Donald Sturrock, ''Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl'', Harper Collins 2010, p. 168. According to Dahl's autobiography, ''Lucky Break'', Forester asked him about his experiences as a fighter pilot, and this prompted Dahl to write his first story, "A Piece of Cake".

Literary career

Forester wrote many novels, but he is best known for the 12-book

series about an officer in the Royal Navy during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. He began the series with Hornblower fairly high in rank in the first novel, which was published in 1937, but demand for more stories led him to fill in Hornblower's life story, and he wrote novels detailing his rise from the rank of midshipman. The last completed novel was published in 1962. Hornblower's fictional adventures were based on real events, but Forester wrote the body of the works carefully to avoid entanglements with real world history, so that Hornblower is always off on another mission when a great naval battle occurs during the Napoleonic Wars. Forester's other novels include '' The African Queen'' (1935) and '' The General'' (1936); two novels about the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

, ''

Death to the French ''Death to the French'' is a 1932 novel of the Peninsular War during the Napoleonic Wars, written by C. S. Forester, the author of the Horatio Hornblower novels. It was also published in the United States under the title ''Rifleman Dodd''. Ove ...

'' (published in the United States as ''Rifleman Dodd'') and '' The Gun'' (filmed as ''

The Pride and the Passion ''The Pride and the Passion'' is a 1957 Napoleonic-era war film in Technicolor and VistaVision from United Artists, produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, and starring Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren. The film co-stars Theodore Bi ...

'' in 1957); and seafaring stories that do not involve Hornblower, such as '' Brown on Resolution'' (1929), ''

The Captain from Connecticut ''The Captain from Connecticut'' is a novel, published in 1941, by C. S. Forester, the author of the novels about fictional Royal Navy officer Horatio Hornblower. ''The Captain from Connecticut'' is set at the tail end of the Napoleonic War ...

'' (1941), '' The Ship'' (1943), and '' Hunting the Bismarck'' (1959), which was used as the basis of the screenplay for the film ''

Sink the Bismarck! ''Sink the Bismarck!'' is a 1960 black-and-white CinemaScope British war film based on the 1959 book ''The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck'' by C. S. Forester. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert.Weiler, A.H ...

'' (1960). Several of his novels have been filmed, including '' The African Queen'' (1951), directed by

. Forester is also credited as story writer on several films not based on his published novels, including ''

Commandos Strike at Dawn ''Commandos Strike at Dawn'' is a 1942 war film directed by John Farrow and written by Irwin Shaw from a short story entitled "The Commandos" by C. S. Forester that appeared in ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in June 1942. Filmed in Canada, it starred ...

'' (1942). Forester also wrote several volumes of short stories set during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Those in ''The Nightmare'' (1954) were based on events in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, ending at the

Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

. The stories in ''The Man in the Yellow Raft'' (1969) follow the career of the destroyer USS ''Boon'', while many of the stories in ''Gold from Crete'' (1971) follow the destroyer HMS ''Apache''. The last of the stories in ''Gold from Crete'' is ''If Hitler Had Invaded England'', which offers an imagined sequence of events starting with

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

's attempt to implement

Operation Sea Lion Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (german: Unternehmen Seelöwe), was Nazi Germany's code name for the plan for an invasion of the United Kingdom during the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. Following the Battle o ...

and culminating in the early military defeat of Nazi Germany in the summer of 1941. His non-fiction works about seafaring include ''The Age of Fighting Sail'' (1956), an account of the sea battles between Great Britain and the United States in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. Forester also published the crime novels ''

Payment Deferred ''Payment Deferred'' is a crime novel by C.S. Forester, first published in 1926. William Marble is a bank clerk living in south London with a wife, Annie, and two teenage children, Winifred ('Winnie') and John, desperately worried about money an ...

'' (1926) and ''Plain Murder'' (1930), as well as two children's books. ''Poo-Poo and the Dragons'' (1942) was created as a series of stories told to his son George to encourage him to finish his meals. George had mild food allergies and needed encouragement to eat. ''The Barbary Pirates'' (1953) is a children's history of early 19th-century pirates. Forester appeared as a contestant on the television quiz programme ''

You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show deb ...

'', hosted by

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

, in an episode broadcast on 1 November 1956. A previously unknown novel of Forester's, ''The Pursued'', was discovered in 2003 and published by

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Western ...

on 3 November 2011.

Personal life

Forester married Kathleen Belcher in 1926. They had two sons, John, born in 1929, and George, born in 1933. The couple divorced in 1945. In 1947 he married Dorothy Foster. Forester died in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...

on 2 April 1966. John Forester wrote a two-volume biography of his father, including many elements of Forester's life which became clear to his son only after his father's death.
Publisher's excerpt
/ref>

Bibliography

Horatio Hornblower Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films, radio and television programmes, an ...

# 1950 '' Mr Midshipman Hornblower''. Michael Joseph. # 1941 "The Hand of Destiny".''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

'' # 1950 "

Hornblower and the Widow McCool "Hornblower and the Widow McCool" is a short story by C. S. Forester featuring his fictional naval hero Horatio Hornblower. It was first published in the 9 December 1950 issue of The Saturday Evening Post as "Hornblower's Temptation" and the ...

" ("Hornblower’s Temptation" ""Hornblower and the Big Decision"). ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'' # 1952 ''

Lieutenant Hornblower ''Lieutenant Hornblower'' (published 1952) is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. It is the second book in the series chronologically, but the seventh by order of publication. The book is unique in the series in being told no ...

''. Michael Joseph. # 1962 ''

Hornblower and the Hotspur ''Hornblower and the Hotspur'' (published 1962) is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. It is the third book in the series chronologically, but the tenth by order of publication, and serves as the basis for one of the episodes o ...

''. Michael Joseph. # 1967 ''

Hornblower and the Crisis ''Hornblower and the Crisis'' is a 1967 historical novel by C. S. Forester. It forms part of the Horatio Hornblower series, and as a result of Forester's death in 1966, it was left unfinished. There is a one-page summary of the last several ch ...

, an unfinished novel''. Michael Joseph. Published in the US as ''Hornblower During the Crisis'' (posthumous) # 1953 ''

Hornblower and the Atropos ''Hornblower and the Atropos'' is a 1953 historical novel by C.S. Forester. Horatio Hornblower is posted to HMS ''Atropos'', the smallest vessel in the Royal Navy that merits command by a post-captain, as he salvages treasure from the Mediterra ...

''. Michael Joseph. # 1937 ''

The Happy Return ''The Happy Return'' (''Beat to Quarters'' in the US) is the first of the Horatio Hornblower novels by C. S. Forester. It was published in 1937. The American title is derived from the expression " beat to quarters", which was the signal to prep ...

''. Michael Joseph. Published in the US as ''Beat to Quarters'' # 1938 ''

''. Michael Joseph. # 1941 ''"Hornblower's Charitable Offering"''. ''Argosy'' # 1938 '' Flying Colours''. Michael Joseph. # 1941 "Hornblower and His Majesty". ''

'' # 1945 ''

The Commodore ''The Commodore'' (published 1945) is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. It was published in the United States under the title ''Commodore Hornblower''. Plot summary Having achieved fame and financial security, Captain Sir ...

''. Michael Joseph. Published in the US as ''Commodore Hornblower'' # 1946 ''

Lord Hornblower ''Lord Hornblower'' (published 1946) is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. Hornblower, a Knight of the Bath, is tasked with suppressing a mutiny on board a Royal Navy ship. He succeeds, and with reinforcements captures Le Hav ...

''. Michael Joseph. # 1958 ''

Hornblower in the West Indies ''Hornblower in the West Indies'', or alternately ''Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies'', is one of the novels in the series that C. S. Forester wrote about fictional Royal Navy officer Horatio Hornblower. All the other novels in the series ta ...

''. Michael Joseph. Published in the US as ''Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies'' # 1967 "

The Last Encounter "The Last Encounter" is a short story by C. S. Forester, notable as providing the final chapter in the life of his fictional naval hero, Horatio Hornblower. It was published together with the unfinished novel ''Hornblower and the Crisis'' and ano ...

". Sunday Mirror, 8 May 1966 (posthumous). # 1964 ''The Hornblower Companion''. Michael Joseph. (Supplementary book comprising another short story, "The Point and the Edge" only as an outline, "The Hornblower Atlas" and "Some Personal Notes")

Omnibus

# 1964 ''The Young Hornblower''. (a compilation of books 1, 2 & 3). Michael Joseph. # 1965 ''Captain Hornblower'' (a compilation of books 5, 6 & 7). Michael Joseph. # 1968 ''Admiral Hornblower'' (a compilation of books 8, 9, 10 & 11). Michael Joseph. # 2011 ''Hornblower Addendum – Five Short Stories'' (originally published in magazines)

Other novels

* 1924 ''A Pawn among Kings''. Methuen. * 1924 ''The Paid Piper''. Methuen. * 1926 ''

''. Methuen. * 1927 ''Love Lies Dreaming''. John Lane. * 1927 ''The Wonderful Week''. John Lane. * 1928 ''The Daughter of the Hawk''. John Lane. * 1929 '' Brown on Resolution''. John Lane. * 1930 ''Plain Murder''. John Lane. * 1931 ''Two-and-Twenty''. John Lane. * 1932 ''

''. John Lane. Published in the U.S. as ''Rifleman Dodd''.

Little Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily D ...

. * 1933 '' The Gun''. John Lane. * 1934 ''The Peacemaker''.

Heinemann Heinemann may refer to: * Heinemann (surname) * Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company * Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States See also * Heineman * Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (born Se ...

. * 1935 '' The African Queen''. Heinemann. * 1935 ''The Pursued'' (a lost novel rediscovered in 1999 and published by

in 2011)"A Note on the Text" by Lawrence Brewer, ''The Pursued'' p. 220 * 1936 '' The General''. Michael Joseph. First published as a serial in the ''News Chronicle'' 14–18 January 1935 * 1940 ''The Earthly Paradise''. Michael Joseph. Published in the U.S. as ''To the Indies''. * 1941 ''

''. Michael Joseph. * 1942 ''Poo-Poo and the Dragons''. Michael Joseph. * 1943 '' The Ship''. Michael Joseph. * 1948 ''The Sky and the Forest''. Michael Joseph. * 1950 ''Randall and the River of Time''. Michael Joseph. * 1955 '' The Good Shepherd''. Michael Joseph.

Short stories

*"The Wandering Gentile", ''Liverpool Echo'', 1955

Posthumous

* 1967 ''Long before Forty'' (autobiographical). Michael Joseph. * 1971 ''Gold from Crete'' (short stories). Michael Joseph. * 2011 ''The Pursued'' (novel). Penguin.

Collections

* 1944 ''The Bedchamber Mystery''; to which is added the story of ''The Eleven Deckchairs'' and ''Modernity and Maternity''. S. J. Reginald Saunders. Published in the US as ''Three Matronly Mysteries''. eNet Press * 1954 ''The Nightmare''. Michael Joseph * 1969 ''The Man in the Yellow Raft''. Michael Joseph (posthumous)

Plays in three acts; John Lane

* 1931 ''U 97'' * 1933 ''Nurse Cavell''. (with C. E. Bechhofer Roberts)

Non-fiction

* 1922 ''Victor Emmanuel II''. Methuen (?) * 1927 ''Victor Emmanuel II and the Union of Italy''. Methuen. * 1924 ''Napoleon and his Court''. Methuen. * 1925 ''Josephine, Napoleon’s Empress''. Methuen. * 1928 ''Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre''. Methuen. * 1929 ''Lord Nelson''. John Lane. * 1929 ''The Voyage of the Annie Marble''. John Lane. * 1930 ''The Annie Marble in Germany''. John Lane. * 1936 ''Marionettes at Home''. Michael Joseph Ltd. * 1953 ''The Adventures of John Wetherell''.

Doubleday & Company Doubleday is an American publishing company. It was founded as the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897 and was the largest in the United States by 1947. It published the work of mostly U.S. authors under a number of imprints and distributed th ...

, Inc. * 1953 ''The Barbary Pirates''. Landmark Books, Random House. Published in the UK in 1956 by Macdonald & Co. * 1957 ''The Naval War of 1812''. Michael Joseph. Published in the US as ''The Age of Fighting Sail'' * 1959 ''Hunting the Bismarck''. Michael Joseph. Published in the US as ''The Last Nine Days of the Bismark'' and ''Sink the Bismarck''

Non-fiction short pieces

*"Calmness under Air Raids in Franco Territory". ''Western Mail'', 28 April 1937 *"Who Is Financing Franco?". ''Aberdeen Press & Journal'', 5 May 1937 *”Sabotage”. Sunday Graphic, 11 September 1938 *"Saga of the Submarines". ''Falkirk Herald'', 1 August 1945 *"Hollywood Coincidence". ''Leicester Chronicle'', 3 September 1955

Film adaptations

In addition to providing the source material for numerous adaptations (not all of which are listed below), Forester was also credited as "adapted for the screen by" for ''

Captain Horatio Hornblower ''Captain Horatio Hornblower'' (a.k.a. ''Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.'' in the UK, "R.N." standing for "Royal Navy") is a 1951 British naval swashbuckling war film in Technicolor from Warner Bros., produced by Gerry Mitchell, directed by Raou ...

''. * ''

'' (1932), based on a 1931 play which was in turn based on Forester's novel of the same name * '' Brown on Resolution'' (1935), based on the novel of the same name * ''

Eagle Squadron The Eagle Squadrons were three fighter squadrons of the Royal Air Force (RAF) formed with volunteer pilots from the United States during the early days of World War II (circa 1940), prior to America's entry into the war in December 1941. Wit ...

'' (1942), story * ''

'' (1942), short story "The Commandos" * '' Forever and a Day'' (1943), story * ''

'' (1951), based on the novels ''

'', ''

'' and '' Flying Colours'' * '' The African Queen'' (1951), the novel of the same name * ''

Sailor of the King ''Single-Handed'' is a 1953 British war film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Jeffrey Hunter, Michael Rennie and Wendy Hiller. It is based on the 1929 novel '' Brown on Resolution'' by C. S. Forester. Set largely in the Pacific, Hunter st ...

'' (1953), the novel ''Brown on Resolution'' * ''

'' (1957), the novel ''The Gun'' * ''

'' (1960), the novel ''The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck'' * '' Hornblower'' (1998–2003 series of made-for-television movies), based on the novels ''Mr. Midshipman Hornblower'', ''Lieutenant Hornblower'' and ''Hornblower and the Hotspur'' * ''

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

'' (2020), the novel ''The Good Shepherd''

References

External links

C. S. Forester Collection
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

* *
C. S. Forester Society
which publishes th
e-journal ''Reflections''
* *
C. S. Forester on ''You Bet Your Life'' in 1956
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forester, C. S. 1899 births 1966 deaths 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English male writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers Alumni of King's College London English historical novelists English male novelists James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients Nautical historical novelists People educated at Alleyn's School People educated at Dulwich College Writers about the Age of Sail Writers from London Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age

Early years

Second World War

Literary career

Personal life

Bibliography

Horatio Hornblower Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films, radio and television programmes, an ...

Omnibus

Other novels

Short stories

Posthumous

Collections

Plays in three acts; John Lane

Non-fiction

Non-fiction short pieces

Film adaptations

See also

References

Further reading

External links