Aubrey–Maturin series Times" Best Seller list. These novels comprise the heart of the canon of an author often compared to Jane Austen, C. S. Forester and other British authors central to the English literature canon. The 2003 film "" took material from books in this series, notably "Master and Commander", "HMS Surprise", "The Letter of Marque", "The Fortune of War", and particularly "The Far Side of the World". Russell Crowe played the role of Jack Aubrey, and Paul Bettany that of Stephen Maturin. Patrick O'Brian's "The Golden Ocean" (1956) and "The Unknown Shore" (1959) both depict fictional pairs of young men, loosely
The Far Side of the World US Navy ship off Norfolk, Virginia. Aubrey realizes that Captain Palmer wants to protect members of his crew who are mutineers from the Hermione mutiny of 1797, and thus subject to full punishment if they are taken by the Royal Navy. He tries to get Aubrey to believe that the war between the United States and Britain, the War of 1812, is over, which it is not. That lie was in hopes of helping those men reach the Marquesas where they might be safe from Royal Navy justice. In the Author's Note, O'Brian says that the USS "Norfolk" recalls the