The Recurring Cast
Character guide · 12 books · 1935 to 1967

C. S. Forester

Historical fictionNaval adventureWartime and twentieth century

C. S. Forester's Hornblower novels follow Horatio Hornblower, a shy, seasick, self-doubting naval officer who becomes one of Britain's great sea captains in the Napoleonic Wars. The books were written out of order; story order is shown.

Best estimate, compiled from series guides, publisher descriptions and reviews where available, and from memory otherwise. Book level only, not chapter level. Minor includes cameos and brief references. Each book carries a confidence rating in its tooltip.

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Who appears in which book

Click a name to follow that character from book to book, or a book title to see its cast.

LLeadMMajor·MinorHas a note
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C. S. Forester books in order

Each series in publication order, with its lead characters. Where the story runs in a different order, switch to Story order. Crossover books are marked and listed under their main series. Use My books to track what you have read.

Hornblower

11 books · Set at sea · story order differsNaval adventure
  1. 1The Happy Return1937With Horatio HornblowerBuy on Amazon
  2. 2A Ship of the Line1938With Horatio HornblowerBuy on Amazon
  3. 3Flying Colours1938With Horatio HornblowerBuy on Amazon
  4. 4The Commodore1945With Horatio HornblowerBuy on Amazon
  5. 5Lord Hornblower1946With Horatio HornblowerBuy on Amazon
  6. 6Mr Midshipman Hornblower1950With Horatio HornblowerBuy on Amazon
  7. 7Lieutenant Hornblower1952With Horatio HornblowerBuy on Amazon
  8. 8Hornblower and the Atropos1953With Horatio HornblowerBuy on Amazon
  9. 9Hornblower in the West Indies1958With Horatio HornblowerBuy on Amazon
  10. 10Hornblower and the Hotspur1962With Horatio HornblowerBuy on Amazon
  11. 11Hornblower and the Crisis1967With Horatio HornblowerBuy on Amazon

Standalone

1 book · Set in Central AfricaWartime and twentieth century
  1. 1The African Queen1935With Rose Sayer and Charlie AllnutBuy on Amazon

Characters

7 recurring and key characters, with the book each one first appears in.

The Royal Navy

Standalone leads