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London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2000. Dean King has published two companions to O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series (Harbours and High Seas, and A Sea of Words) and this is his companion to the life of the author. He has uncovered many of the secrets that O'Brian would have preferred to remain hidden, and he has given an insight into the literary background and writing style of O'Brian that will delight anybody interested in his works, especially the twenty volume epic canon of Captain Jack Aubrey RN and Surgeon Stephen Maturin FRS. King has dug deep into O'Brian's family, discovering spies, crank doctors, salty seadogs, bad fathers and errant husbands enough for a whole shelf full of fiction. He has chronicled O'Brian's life through its several changes, especially the golden afternoon of his writing career, when he was discovered by the world's readers and became a heroic figure, writing best-seller after best-seller from his vineyard home in the South of France. While in many ways it is an intrusion that Patrick O'Brian would have been apalled to see published, it is also a tribute by one of his foremost fans. Make up your own mind when you read this. Presented by Peter Mackay of Skyring Books, a fan of Patrick O'Brian these twenty years and more.. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Illus. by Geoff Hunt. Remainder.