Recommendations based on The Surgeon's Mateby Patrick O'Brian

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. The Fortune of War

    by Patrick O'Brian
    During the War of 1812, Captain Aubrey and Dr. Maturin are captured and imprisoned in America. They must escape and make their way back to England.

    HMS Leopard sails from Desolation Island to Port Jackson where she drops off her few prisoners. Captain Bligh is already handled, so she proceeds to the Dutch East Indies station and Admiral Drury at ... (Wikipedia)

  2. Desolation Island

    by Patrick O'Brian
    Captain Jack Aubrey and Dr. Stephen Maturin are stranded on a remote island, facing harsh conditions and a dangerous enemy.

    Jack Aubrey, having recovered financially in, The Mauritius Command, , expands his house, pays off his mother-in-law's debts, and his wife is no longer pinching pennies. His household staffed with ... (Wikipedia)

  3. The Mauritius Command

    by Patrick O'Brian
    Captain Jack Aubrey leads the Royal Navy in a battle against the French in the Indian Ocean during the Napoleonic Wars.

    Jack Aubrey and Sophia Williams are married and the parents of twin girls. They live at Ashgrove Cottage on his half-pay, not enough to support fellow navy men in the household. Sophia's mother has ... (Wikipedia)

  4. Sharpe's Rifles

    by Bernard Cornwell
    A tale of heroism and courage in the Napoleonic Wars, as one man rises to become a legendary soldier.

    Sharpe's battalion, acting as rearguard to the British Army in its retreat to Corunna , are cut down by a squadron of French regular cavalry. Sharpe takes up Captain Murray's heavy cavalry sword ... (Wikipedia)

  5. Wolf Hall

    by Hilary Mantel
    A historical fiction about the rise of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII.

    England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry ... (Goodreads)

  6. Sharpe's Fortress

    by Bernard Cornwell
    Action-packed adventure of a British soldier in India, struggling to protect a fortress.

    In 1803, Arthur Wellesley 's British and sepoy army is in pursuit of the Mahrattas in western India, having beaten them in the Battle of Assaye . Ensign Richard Sharpe, newly made an officer, is ... (Wikipedia)

  7. Flashman

    by George MacDonald Fraser
    A cowardly British soldier's misadventures as he navigates the volatile world of 19th century imperial politics.

    Coward, scoundrel, lover and cheat, but there is no better man to go into the jungle with. Join Flashman in his adventures as he survives fearful ordeals and outlandish perils across the four corners ... (Goodreads)

  8. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

    by Susanna Clarke
    A whimsical tale of two magicians mastering the mysteries of English magic.

    The novel opens in 1806 in northern England with The Learned Society of York Magicians, whose members are "theoretical magicians" who believe that magic died out several hundred years earlier. The ... (Wikipedia)

  9. A Song of Ice and Fire

    by George R.R. Martin
    Epic fantasy series of political intrigue, alliances, and warfare in a mythical land.

    George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series has become, in many ways, the gold standard for modern epic fantasy. Martin—dubbed the "American Tolkien" by Time magazine—has created a world that ... (Goodreads)

  10. Red Storm Rising

    by Tom Clancy
    An all-out war between NATO and the Soviet Union, as seen through the eyes of the soldiers.

    Militants from Azerbaijan destroy an oil production refinery in Nizhnevartovsk , threatening to cripple the Soviet Union's economy due to oil shortages. After much deliberation, the Soviet Politburo ... (Wikipedia)

  11. Lonesome Dove

    by Larry McMurtry
    Epic tale of two former Texas Rangers on a cattle drive from Texas to Montana.

    It is the late 1870s. , Captain Woodrow F. Call and Captain Augustus "Gus" McCrae, two famous retired Texas Rangers , run the Hat Creek Cattle Company and Livery Emporium in the small Texas border ... (Wikipedia)

  12. Barchester Towers

    by Anthony Trollope
    Social satire of Victorian England, exploring hypocrisy and ambition in a small cathedral town.

    Barchester Towers concerns the leading clergy of the cathedral city of Barchester. The much loved bishop having died, all expectations are that his son, Archdeacon Grantly, will succeed him. Owing to ... (Wikipedia)

  13. I, Claudius

    by Robert Graves
    An epic tale of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, told through the eyes of a dynasty's forgotten leader.

    Into the 'autobiography' of Clau-Clau-Claudius, the pitiful stammerer who was destined to become Emperor in spite of himself, Graves packs the everlasting intrigues, the depravity, the bloody purges ... (Goodreads)

  14. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

    by John le Carré
    A retired spy is called back into action to uncover a mole in the British Secret Service.

    Control , chief of the Circus, suspects one of the five senior intelligence officers at the Circus to be a long-standing Soviet mole and assigns code names with the intention that should his agent ... (Wikipedia)

  15. Taran Wanderer

    by Lloyd Alexander
    Taran sets out on a journey of self-discovery, seeking to learn his true identity and purpose in life.

    Taran and Gurgi have returned to Caer Dallben after leaving Princess Eilonwy at the royal court of Dinas Rhydnant for education in the ways of a princess . Taran has come to realize that he loves ... (Wikipedia)

  16. A Farewell to Arms

    by Ernest Hemingway
    A story of unrequited love in the midst of war.

    The novel is divided into five sections or 'books'. Frederic Henry is first person narrator of the story. Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American paramedic , is serving in the Italian Army . The novel ... (Wikipedia)

  17. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

    by Michael Chabon
    Two cousins create a comic book superhero and find success and adventure in 1940s New York.

    The novel begins in 1939 with the arrival of 19-year-old Josef "Joe" Kavalier as a refugee in New York City , where he comes to live with his 17-year-old cousin, Sammy Klayman. With the help of his ... (Wikipedia)

  18. Gates of Fire

    by Steven Pressfield
    Epic tale of ancient Spartan warriors on a mission of heroism and sacrifice.

    The novel is narrated by Xeones, a perioikos and one of only three Greek survivors of the Battle of Thermopylae . His story is dictated to King Xerxes and transcribed by his court historian , ... (Wikipedia)

  19. The Power and the Glory

    by Graham Greene
    A whiskey priest in 1930s Mexico struggles with his faith and morality while on the run from authorities.

    The main character is an unnamed 'whisky priest', who combines a great power for self-destruction with pitiful cravenness, an almost painful penitence, and a desperate quest for dignity. , By the ... (Wikipedia)

  20. Enigma

    by Robert Harris
    A thrilling tale of espionage and code-breaking during World War II.

    In February 1943, Tom Jericho, a gifted cryptanalyst at Bletchley Park , is recuperating in Cambridge from a nervous breakdown brought on by the pressures of work and the breakup of his relationship ... (Wikipedia)

  21. That Was Then, This Is Now

    by S.E. Hinton
    Two teenage boys, lifelong friends, confront their changing relationship as they grow up.

    Does growing up have to mean growing apart? Since childhood, Bryon and Mark have been as close as brothers. Now things are changing. Bryon's growing up, spending a lot of time with girls, and ... (Goodreads)

  22. Summerland

    by Michael Chabon
    An imaginative adventure of a young boy, uncovering the secrets of the magical town of Summerland.

    The story begins on a small island off the coast of Washington called Clam Island. The central character, Ethan Feld, is on one of the island's baseball teams despite being terrible at the game. He ... (Wikipedia)

  23. Berlin Game

    by Len Deighton
    A British spy in Cold War Berlin must uncover a traitor in his own agency. Full of twists and turns, it's a classic espionage thriller.

    The time is the early 1980s. A highly placed agent in East Germany codenamed "Brahms Four" wants to come to the West. Brahms Four is one of Britain's most reliable, most valuable agents behind the ... (Wikipedia)

  24. War and Peace

    by Leo Tolstoy
    Epic tale of war, peace, and love, focusing on the lives of five aristocratic families.

    The novel begins in July 1805 in Saint Petersburg , at a soirée given by Anna Pavlovna Scherer—the maid of honour and confidante to the dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna . Many of the main characters ... (Wikipedia)

  25. Something Fresh

    by P.G. Wodehouse
    A comedic tale of mistaken identity and romance, as a young woman seeks independence.

    Ashe Marson and his fellow lodger Joan Valentine discover that they both work as writers for the Mammoth Publishing Company . Joan urges Ashe to overcome his discontentment and take a fresh direction ... (Wikipedia)

  26. Sharpe's Triumph

    by Bernard Cornwell
    A tale of heroism, as a British soldier risks his life to save a young woman from the French.

    Richard Sharpe and the Battle of Assaye, September 1803 India, 1803. Sergeant Richard Sharpe witnesses a murderous act of treachery by an English officer who has defected from the East India Company ... (Goodreads)

  27. The Thin Red Line

    by James Jones
    A group of soldiers fight for survival and sanity in the brutal Guadalcanal campaign during World War II.

    "When compared to the fact that he might very well be dead by this time tomorrow, whether he was courageous or not today was pointless, empty. When compared to the fact that he might be dead ... (Goodreads)

  28. The Killer Angels

    by Michael Shaara
    A gripping story of the Battle of Gettysburg, told through the eyes of the soldiers on both sides.

    Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain , one of the major characters, remembers reciting to his father a speech from, Hamlet, : "What a piece of work is man...in action how like an angel!" Sgt. Buster Kilrain ... (Wikipedia)

  29. Night Soldiers

    by Alan Furst
    Espionage thriller set in 1930's Europe, as the world slowly descends into war.

    Bulgaria, 1934. A young man is murdered by the local fascists. His brother, Khristo Stoianev, is recruited into the NKVD, the Soviet secret intelligence service, and sent to Spain to serve in its ... (Goodreads)

  30. The Name of the Rose

    by Umberto Eco
    A Franciscan friar investigates a series of murders in a medieval monastery, uncovering a sinister plot.

    In 1327, Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and Adso of Melk , a Benedictine novice travelling under his protection, arrive at a Benedictine monastery in Northern Italy to attend a theological ... (Wikipedia)