Lieutenant Lamb

by Kenneth Maynard

Book Overview

The first novel in the Lieutenant Lamb series. After serving six long years as a midshipman in the British Royal Navy, Lieutenant Matthew Lamb at last receives his coveted commission. He proudly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312483716
• ISBN13: 9780312483715
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 191 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Good novel.

This is the first installment of the Matthew Lamb series. Lamb is fourth lieutenant on a British ship. This book has the usual fare--a cutting out expedition, a storm, and great battles. The book is compact and no episode is drawn out--as in Pope's Ramage books. It's an easy read; probably a good introduction to the genre. However, Lamb is no hero and his character really does not stand out in any way. The captain is actually the most interesting person in the book. A word of warning: the copy that I found had a rather juvenile-looking cover and gives the impression that it is for boys. In spite of the cover, you certainly would NOT want to give this book to your 12 year old grandson as a birthday present. The battles are very bloody, the language is, well, salty talk; and Lamb's 'entanglement' with a 'lady of the Scarlet Sisterhood' make this book inappropriate for the young.

Another Royal Navy series

This is the first novel in the Lieutenant Lamb series (followed by First Lieutenant and Lamb in Command). The copyright date is 1984. The year is 1798, and Lieutenant Matthew Lamb, after the mandatory six years service as a midshipman, has received his commission as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and we find him reporting aboard the HMS Sturdy as the new fourth lieutenant, replacing a man who broke both legs in a fall. The frigate is immediately on its way to join Admiral Jervis, the Earl St. Vincent, off Cadiz. After some patrolling in the Strait of Gibraltar, they return to witness a hanging of a mutineer - a man who had the effrontery to present demands to Admiral Jervis. There are discussions running through the novel about naval discipline. The frigate then leaves for the Indian Ocean via the Cape to help track down privateers. The John Company has been losing East Indiamen, and has put pressure on the government to send Royal Navy ships. They end up in various action, including escorting a convoy. Some plot material brings to mind earlier writing by C. Northcote Parkinson in Dead Reckoning, and a later novel in the series about Jack Aubrey (although, at the moment, that title escapes me). The novel comes to a blazing finish which obviously leads into the sequel. After the third novel in the series, Lamb in Command, the series seems to end with various events left unfinished. I have not established the reason for the series ending in midstream.