Honour this Day

Richard Bolitho #19

by Alexander Kent, Douglas Reeman

In September 1804, as England stands alone against France and the fleets of Spain, Vice-Admiral Richard Bolitho hoists his flag above the veteran Hyperion and sets sail with a new squadron for the Caribbean. His orders are to plan and execute a daring dawn raid on the Spanish Main.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Nautical, Historical, Adventure, War, Military Fiction

316 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

A pseudonym used by Douglas Reeman.

Series:
* Richard Bolitho
* Adam Bolitho

Reviews

[Xan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Llevo navegando con Bolitho desde que era un guardamarina en el Gorgon. He luchado en las costas norteamericanas en la Guerra de Sucesión, contra los franceses durante la Revolución, con y contra los españoles según el baile de alianzas durante el convulso principio del siglo XIX. He conocido a sus mujeres, sus amigos y enemigos. Juntos nos hemos enfrentado a las borrascas del Canal, a las calmas ecuatoriales, a la niebla y al humo de los combates a tocapenoles. He sido "uno de los pocos".

Podría decir que la serie está decayendo, lo que no sería de extrañar despues de 16 libros, pero no sería justo. Simplemente está dedicando más tiempo a la trama sentimental que a las batallas, lo que no es la parte que más me gusta de esta saga. Dentro de la excelente calidad que tiene el conjunto creo que no está al nivel de las mejores. Evidentemente no es una lectura que pueda recomendar a quien no haya leído ninguna de las anteriores porque en el mundo de Bolitho todas las relaciones interpersonales se tejen a lo largo de su carrera enredando los arumentos de sus libros, con constantes autoreferencias que sirven de recordatorios y explicaciones para las decisiones que debe tomar.
Afortunadamente aún me quedan otros cinco libros más para terminar la serie en la estantería...

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

# 17 in the British naval officer Richard Bolitho series. Novel covers the period 1804 to the end of 1805 with Bolitho in command of a squadron. The novel is in two parts, the first dealing with Bolitho's assignment to the West Indies with orders to capture a Spanish treasure ship, and the second covering his return to the Mediterranean and efforts to prevent a Spanish fleet from joining a French fleet. The two parts are tied together by Bolitho's personal struggles with his health, his relationship with his wife, and those in the Admiralty who'd wish him harm.

[Gerold Whittaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is set in two halves: Antigua in 1804 and Gibraltar in 1805. England is fighting against France and Spain and Bolitho (the main character of the Bolitho series) is sent to carry out a daring raid on the Spanish Main. In the process he meet up with an old flame....

Excellent naval fiction but in my opinion too much time was spent on the romantic side of the story. Perhaps had I read the book where she was introduced into the series I may have felt differently about this aspect of the story.

The Bolitho series of books is written by Douglas Reeman under the pseudonym Alexander Kent.

[Viva · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been reading this series in chronological order and so far they've been pretty good. I can't summarize or even remember the plot because this series is like a TV series and the episodes all run on each other. Bolitho is just sent on one mission after another. In this book he's sent to the Spanish Main.

Another reason is that I've been reading all the Hornblower clones this year and I must have read 20-30 naval historical fiction books and the characters all visit the same locales: Caribbean, Mediterranean, Baltic, Atlantic, etc. and even be at the same events: Battle of the Nile, Trafalgar, Copenhagen, Cape Town, etc. So all the stories are somewhat mixed up in my head now.

One thing I can say is that all of the series start strong but lose their way and it's also somewhat true of this series. What I like about this series is that it's easy to read and follow. I think Kent does a great job of the action scenes and spends a lot of time on the characters. The relationships between the characters are quite well done. The action scenes are very vivid and Kent doesn't pull any punches when it comes to realism and carnage.

The problem as the series matures are these:

1) The hero worship. Lately it's gotten as bad as Ramage where basically everyone he comes in contact with either professes his admiration for him aloud for anyone in proximity to hear or sotto voce to himself. And as another reviewer said: their goal in life seems to be to line up to lay down their lives for him. Frankly this is cringy and just bad writing. They're all basically aping Hornblower but CS Forester does a much better job. If you have to convince readers by having the characters say they admire Bolitho every few pages then you're not doing a good job - write it so that we feel it, not read it through dialog.

2) The romance: I don't know why Kent has put it into his head that readers read this series for romance. Again, I feel it's because of Hornblower's affairs and an effort to better him. But in this case Kent is a horrible romance writer. Characters meet for 2 seconds and pledge their undying love for each other, totally without any chemistry.

Spoilers here: Bolitho married Belinda but fell for Kate. We're supposed to feel that Belinda changed and has become unworthy of being Bolitho's wife and that we sympathize with Bolitho and agree with his affair. But I don't. Kent hasn't done enough character differentiation that I feel any difference between the two female characters. They feel exactly the same to me.

This is supposed to mimic Nelson's affair with Emma Hamilton. But all I feel is that Bolitho cast away a faithful wife because he got besotted with someone else. With all the time Kent put into this dumb subplot, this book might as well be subtitled Sir Richard thinks with his benis. This drama is totally unconvincing and a waste of time. I don't care about who Bolitho sleeps with and just fast read through this garbage.

If Kent had removed the romance and dialed down the hero worship, this would have been a much better book. Not as good as Hornblower, but still better than the other clones. As Hornblower famously said to Bush: what are we, actors? These characters are not just actors but bad actors. Anyway, on to the next book!

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another decent Bolitho book which really consists of two adventures. In the first part Richard goes to the Caribbean where he executes a daring operation to try and damage the Spanish treasure fleets coming to the Europe to deprive France of funds. He also renews his acquaintance with Catherine the wife of the Inspector General who he had met and romanced in an earlier book. The second part of the book finds him on station and trying to keep the French from breaking out in the Mediterranean to unite their fleet for the invasion of England.

[RhC · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Equality Dick" goes on a booty call when he hooks up with an old squeeze and dumps his snobbish wife when he catches her in the center of a plot to throw his old flame into debtor's prison, permanently.

Oh yeah, and he gets back together with Keen (as his Flag Captain) and the always judgey best friend, Herrick, to wipe out over half of the Don's fleet that were in route to aid the fight against Nelson at Trafalgar.

A solid 3.5 stars.

[Geoff Woodland · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author has a way of capturing a battle scene that causes the reader to 'gallop' across the page wanting to to know what will happen next.
I have been am steadily working through all of the Bolitho stories, which has become a labour of love thanks to covid. Over the years I had read all of this author's books under his Kent name and as Douglas Reeman and never been disappointed.

[Boulder Boulderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really more about the eye and the marriage than the ships and the fighting. Appreciate that it's hard to keep it exciting for the nineteenth novel, but this one and the last couple have really missed for me.

[David Hull · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t get enough of this ‘Bolitho’ series of books, each as good if not better than the one before - utterly marvellous!

[Steve Bender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bolitho follow n the shoes of Nelson and has marital trouble and a new love. That on top of b attles with the Spanish Great read.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will continue this series but this wasn’t my favorite book.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six-word Review: Bolitho loves, fights, worries, and survives.

Longer review later.

[Caroline Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in this series about Richard Bolitho, a naval officer in the British Navy. I enjoyed this much more than the first - more action and less about his romance with his ex he bumps into in English Harbour. Enjoyed learning about the different ships and also gives little catch-ups on the different characters (very helpful if you have not read earlier books in this series).

[sarg · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Honor This Day" Alexander Kent
A swashbuckling adventure of the British navy late 1700 early 1800 like CS Forresters Horatio Hornblower series or Patric O Brian's Capt Abury. good read gave it 4 Stars

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Bolitho sails to the Caribbean to fight once more for England.

[Nerissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just found it dull. Not my interest.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bolitho saga continues.

[Annie Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better Bolitho books with plenty of action and more insight into the main character. Much enjoyed.

[Juli Monroe · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the naval battles are good, the sub plots with Bolitho's love affairs are getting old.

[Topher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bolitho is now a vice-admiral, taking care of business in both the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

see earlier comments on this fine set of Naval novels.

[Charlie Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like these stories. I have now read all the ones I have. I was looking at the list and there are 4 or so more that I don't have. The sad part is I don't have the first one. :( Oh, well. Keep on looking.