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Flying Colours  By  cover art

Flying Colours

By: C. S. Forester
Narrated by: Christian Rodska
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Publisher's summary

Exclusively from Audible

In the eighth instalment of C.S Forester's naval series, Horatio Hornblower finds himself down on his luck. Having been forced to surrender his ship to the French, following a long and bloody battle, he is imprisoned by his enemies and threatened with the prospect of being tried by French courts and executed if found guilty.

Knowing that he will also likely come up against a court martial in England for having lost command and possession of The Sutherland, Horatio's future is bleak and uncertain.

As his wife, Maria, struggles to deliver a healthy baby and the thought of his mistress, Lady Barbara, taunts him in his jail cell, Hornblower realises that he must do whatever it takes to prevent the impending doom heading his way and ensure that neither lady is left to fend for herself.

Hugely celebrated for his Napoleonic warfare series, and later for the publication of The African Queen, C. S. Forester came to writing much later than expected. Having originally studied medicine at Guy's Hospital, Forester first developed a love of story-telling after being inspired by his travels with the Royal Navy.

Sadly stricken with arteriosclerosis whilst voyaging to the Bering Sea, C.S. Forester was crippled in his later life, but his imagination and his skill with a pen survived for years to come.

Narrator Biography

Christian Rodska is an English television and voice actor best known for his role in the 1970s series Follyfoot.

From the The Monuments Men and The Eagle of the Ninth to The Likely Lads, Z Cars, The Tomorrow People, Coronation Street, Bergerac and Casualty, his extensive and diverse acting career has led him to become a highly solicited radio and audiobook narrator.

He has now voiced over 150 unabridged audiobooks including Winston Churchill's biographies, Evelyn Waugh's Men at Arms and Sebastian Faulks' A Possible Life. He has been praised for his ability to vary in vocal pace and style and as such, Christian boasts 12 Earphone Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

Please note: this is a vintage recording. The audio quality may not be up to modern day standards.

©1938 C.S. Forester (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Flying Colours

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Flying Colours

I have almost finished the Patrick O'Brian series of Capt Aubrey and was looking for something similar in the Audible library when I came across C.S. Forester. I remember the movies about Hornblower but realised I had never read the books. This was most enjoyable story, Hornblower is captured by the French and is on way to Paris to be executed when he escapes. Lots of suspense and information on the French and English navies. Christian Rodska does a good job narrating the story. Looking forward to reading all of this series.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

The Character study

This is not in the usual ripping yarn style.. It is a good drama but more of a character study of Hornblower. The story is much slower paced than normal and the whole story revolves around his escape through and out of France. The reader is taken on as much a ride through his emotions, weaknesses and uncertainty as we are a flight to freedom but it is very well written and a must read if you are to maintain both the story and the man himself. However I would not reccomend as a one of sample book to read unless you are a school teacher looking for an excellent book for students to do a case study of a character which would hold the interest for either gender.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great performance

If you are a fan of naval action in the Age of Sail, C.S. Forester's Flying Colours will not disappoint. If you are familiar with the Hornblower series, you will see Horatio's character flaws manifested in action rather than imagined. You will be captured from the opening lines
to the last, a large part due to the engaging performance of the reader.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The best of the Hornblower books!

I love all of the books, and Christian Rodska's performances are uniformly superb, but this is the most exciting book. If you're not working through the series (and you really should), then listen to this one if you listen to no other.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Audible hope you have enjoyed this program

Great book, and well performed but why did they have to change the last soundbite? There’s a wonderful nostalgia to be found in the scratchy old recording of “audible hope you have enjoyed this program”.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

What’s not to like?

First rate adventure story, excellent writing, perfect narrator. This is one of my favorite Hornblower books. Unique in that much of the action takes place on land (and river) rather than at sea, but thrilling nonetheless.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable

I like the narrator. Very easy listening, good storyline as well.
Not like the other Hornblower books.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

almost Perfect but still human

love Hornb lower. Daring do is truly done. He is nearly perfect by all but his own lights.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Another excellent tale!

Wonderful series! So happy that the sea tales of H Hornblower is on Audible. Excellent work!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

This is written in the tradition of an outstanding series. I highly recommend and know the reader will receive great enjoyment!

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