Customer Reviews
Great story-telling - By: Mr. Derrick Mabbott, 15 Dec 2008 
With a referencein the blurb to Patrick O'Brian & the Mauritius Command, I started this book expecting a narrative focused on the naval campaign. In actual fact, as other reviewers have described, this is not the case. The bookin reality encompasses a broader canvas, roving from intriguein Napoleonic era India, through the perils of travel on East Indiamen until it arrives at the actual naval campaignin the last third to quarter of the book.
Nevertheless, it is a cracking story vividly told. The experiences of travelling on merchant shipsin Hurricane-force winds are the most compelling passages. My one reservation was that on occasion I sensed that the drive for a dramatic story overcame the rigour of research. There are many descriptions of terrific storms, collisions at sea & heart-rending tableaux of approaching doom. On occasion, though, the episode ends with all hands being lost. Quite how the author managed therefore to tell the storyin such gripping detail when all of the participants died left me a little cautious as to the rest of the narrative.
A truly inspiring story - By: B. Taylor, 04 Jun 2008 
A truly inspiring story of an age when men were men, unlike the wimps of today.
Taylor's carefully researched history is writtenin clear, easy to read English. He is not an academic historian & he brings history to life.
(I am no relation.)
A gripping read - By: Blencathra, 14 Dec 2007 Unlike northernfaq, I thought the cover blurb was pretty accurate: this covers the story of the disastrous storms of the 1809 season for the Britishin the Indian Ocean, & its aftermath when the British invaded what are now called Mauritius & Reunion, the latter being the campaign upon which Patrick O'Brien based his book "The Mauritius Command". However, I totally agree with him (?) on the quality of the book itself: I was gripped from start to finish, & literally couldn't put it down (at least not without great reluctance). Much of Stephen Taylor's research was based on the logs of the East Indiamen involved, now lodgedin the British Library, which he succeedsin bringing vividly to life. There is some great fiction surrounding this period, but Taylor's story is every bit as readable.
A bit of a con but superb in its own right - By: M. Notman, 24 Nov 2007 Ok this ISNT a review of the entire Franco-British relationshipin the Indian ocean as you might assume from the cover & blurb- its about 3 years of a struggle that lasted most of 3 centuries- but! what it is a gem of a book covering two doomed voyages & their aftermath across the indian oceanin the face of storm, wind, war & frenchmen that really gets you involved & makes for compulsive reading. Not a big book but a genuine (bar the cover & blurb) one that i loved reading.
