Set against the 18th century Anglo-French wars, the bloodiest time in British naval history, Hornblower is the story of a young man's struggle to become a leader of men. Based on the classic novels by C.S. Forester, and produced by the team that made Sharpe, the Hornblower films will be epic in scope and scale, historically accurate and above all exciting. The Hornblower films will total, five x 103 minutes over two years. This unofficial book will use the Hornblower character to explore what it was really like to join the navy of King George III in 1793. The book will use the character of Hornblower to explain what life was like for the sailors and officers at the turn of the 19th century. It will explore how a naval warship was built and really worked in the context of the history of the Anglo-French wars at sea during this period. The real-life weapons and battles will be reconstructed and the language and traditions of the navy will be brought to life in this stunningly illustrated book. Photographs and reconstructions will be acquired from the Royal Naval College Greenwich and the Naval Dockyard Trust at Chatham where there is a reconstruction of the third rate frigate Valiant.