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Carlisle & Holbrooke Naval Adventures #11
Carlisle's Duty: The Eleventh Carlisle & Holbrooke Naval Adventure
North America’s French and Indian War may be over, but at the end of 1760 the wider Seven Years War is still raging in Europe and across the seas of the world. Nevertheless, the New England merchants are growing restless at the restrictions on their trade with the French islands, and one Rhode Island company is determined to defy the law and bring home a cargo of contraband molasses.
Edward Carlisle’s ship Dartmouth is assigned to the Leeward Islands Squadron, tasked with blockading the remaining French Caribbean sugar islands. When he intercepts a New England ship suspected of trading with the enemy, he is left with a dilemma between his duty to his king and his loyalty to the colonies where he was born. What should be an open-and-shut case in the admiralty courts proves to be nothing of the sort.
Meanwhile, the French navy can still influence events, as Carlisle discovers when he is confronted by an enemy battle squadron with only a frigate to support him.
Carlisle’s Duty is the eleventh Carlisle and Holbrooke novel. The series follows the two sea officers through the Seven Years War and into the period of turbulent relations between Britain and her American colonies prior to their bid for independence.
Edward Carlisle’s ship Dartmouth is assigned to the Leeward Islands Squadron, tasked with blockading the remaining French Caribbean sugar islands. When he intercepts a New England ship suspected of trading with the enemy, he is left with a dilemma between his duty to his king and his loyalty to the colonies where he was born. What should be an open-and-shut case in the admiralty courts proves to be nothing of the sort.
Meanwhile, the French navy can still influence events, as Carlisle discovers when he is confronted by an enemy battle squadron with only a frigate to support him.
Carlisle’s Duty is the eleventh Carlisle and Holbrooke novel. The series follows the two sea officers through the Seven Years War and into the period of turbulent relations between Britain and her American colonies prior to their bid for independence.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
335 pages, Paperback
Published January 28, 2022
About the author
Chris Durbin
15 books73 followersChris Durbin grew up in the seaside town of Porthcawl in South Wales. His first experience of sailing was as a sea cadet in the treacherous tideway of the Bristol Channel, and at the age of sixteen, he spent a week in a topsail schooner in the Southwest Approaches. He was a crew member on the Porthcawl lifeboat before joining the navy.
Chris spent twenty-four years as a warfare officer in the Royal Navy, serving in all classes of ship from aircraft carriers through destroyers and frigates to the smallest minesweepers. He took part in operational campaigns in the Falkland Islands, the Middle East and the Adriatic. As a personnel exchange officer, he spent two years teaching tactics at a US Navy training centre in San Diego.
On his retirement from the Royal Navy, Chris joined a large American company and spent eighteen years in the aerospace, defence and security industry, including two years on the design team for the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.
Chris is a graduate of the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, the British Army Command and Staff College, the United States Navy War College (where he gained a postgraduate diploma in national security decision-making) and Cambridge University (where he was awarded an MPhil in International Relations).
With a lifelong interest in naval history and a long-standing ambition to write historical fiction, Chris has embarked upon creating the Carlisle & Holbrooke series, in which a colonial Virginian commands a British navy frigate during the middle years of the eighteenth century.
The series will follow its principal characters through the Seven Years War and into the period of turbulent relations between Britain and her American Colonies in the 1760s. They’ll negotiate some thought-provoking loyalty issues when British policy and colonial restlessness lead inexorably to the American Revolution.
Chris now lives on the south coast of England, surrounded by hundreds of years of naval history. His three children are all busy growing their own families and careers while Chris and his wife (US Navy, retired) of thirty-seven years enjoy sailing their classic dayboat.
Chris spent twenty-four years as a warfare officer in the Royal Navy, serving in all classes of ship from aircraft carriers through destroyers and frigates to the smallest minesweepers. He took part in operational campaigns in the Falkland Islands, the Middle East and the Adriatic. As a personnel exchange officer, he spent two years teaching tactics at a US Navy training centre in San Diego.
On his retirement from the Royal Navy, Chris joined a large American company and spent eighteen years in the aerospace, defence and security industry, including two years on the design team for the Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.
Chris is a graduate of the Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, the British Army Command and Staff College, the United States Navy War College (where he gained a postgraduate diploma in national security decision-making) and Cambridge University (where he was awarded an MPhil in International Relations).
With a lifelong interest in naval history and a long-standing ambition to write historical fiction, Chris has embarked upon creating the Carlisle & Holbrooke series, in which a colonial Virginian commands a British navy frigate during the middle years of the eighteenth century.
The series will follow its principal characters through the Seven Years War and into the period of turbulent relations between Britain and her American Colonies in the 1760s. They’ll negotiate some thought-provoking loyalty issues when British policy and colonial restlessness lead inexorably to the American Revolution.
Chris now lives on the south coast of England, surrounded by hundreds of years of naval history. His three children are all busy growing their own families and careers while Chris and his wife (US Navy, retired) of thirty-seven years enjoy sailing their classic dayboat.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 1, 2022
this great series continues
Carlisle & Holbrook is a grand series. This offering continues to engage the reader is a whirlwind of adventure while teaching the history of the period.
Anxiously awaiting the next volume.
Carlisle & Holbrook is a grand series. This offering continues to engage the reader is a whirlwind of adventure while teaching the history of the period.
Anxiously awaiting the next volume.
May 12, 2022
Just a Little Taste…but Want More
Don’t nibble around the edges, take a huge bite! Let’s try for some variety this time…halyards, lines, t’galants and jobs are interesting….but let’s bring in more of the people/relationships into the story.
Tired of a the families are given 2-3 references in a book, but nothing about how they live, what they think…in other words, fill out the characters…no more stick figures.
Don’t nibble around the edges, take a huge bite! Let’s try for some variety this time…halyards, lines, t’galants and jobs are interesting….but let’s bring in more of the people/relationships into the story.
Tired of a the families are given 2-3 references in a book, but nothing about how they live, what they think…in other words, fill out the characters…no more stick figures.
February 2, 2022
Great story must read for any nav history buff
Great stories within this story. Durbin tells a convincing story in a unique way, making even the mundane vagaries of naval life an exciting adventure. He neatly wove into the story the very real dilemna faced by early colonists and an officer in the royal navy with respect to smuggling.
Great stories within this story. Durbin tells a convincing story in a unique way, making even the mundane vagaries of naval life an exciting adventure. He neatly wove into the story the very real dilemna faced by early colonists and an officer in the royal navy with respect to smuggling.
February 11, 2022
Another great installment in the Carlisle & Holbrooke series. If you like the Horation Hornblower series you should like this. The books alternate between Carlisle and Holbrooke and it is nice to see the professional and personal growth of each. I like age of sail historical fiction and this is a great new series.
February 13, 2022
typically great
the transparency of the characters in this book continues what the series has long showed. These professional leaders are human... and therefore, the reader can identify with them. please keep going!
the transparency of the characters in this book continues what the series has long showed. These professional leaders are human... and therefore, the reader can identify with them. please keep going!
February 26, 2022
Naval adventures
The adventure continues unabated from capture to victory in the perilous times of war. Brilliantly conducted in true Royal Navy manner.
I can thoroughly recommend this latest part of Captains busy life.
The adventure continues unabated from capture to victory in the perilous times of war. Brilliantly conducted in true Royal Navy manner.
I can thoroughly recommend this latest part of Captains busy life.
March 3, 2022
Colonial dilemma
Duty, honor,, and country; a critical juncture that Carlisle has to tread. That’s he does so effectively makes a great storyline. Characters old and new are drawn very well. An
Exciting book. Waiting for the next book. Recommended read.
Duty, honor,, and country; a critical juncture that Carlisle has to tread. That’s he does so effectively makes a great storyline. Characters old and new are drawn very well. An
Exciting book. Waiting for the next book. Recommended read.
February 18, 2022
Good read, gives O'brien a run for his money
A great read from start to finish, brings it all to life so easily. A great selection of stories of life in the Royal Navy of Old
A great read from start to finish, brings it all to life so easily. A great selection of stories of life in the Royal Navy of Old
April 14, 2022
dry enjoyable
I have really enjoyed the whole series of books . Love the history and the story lines . Can’t wait for the next book.
I have really enjoyed the whole series of books . Love the history and the story lines . Can’t wait for the next book.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews