Under Enemy Colors

By: S. Thomas Russell

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

At the time of the French Revolution, one of Britain's most skillful naval officers, Charles Saunders Hayden, is a young lieutenant, the son of an English father and a French mother. His abilities and his loyalty to the king of England are beyond dispute, yet his career seems doomed by his "mixed" heritage and lack of political connections. Consequently, Hayden is assigned to an aging frigate, the Themis, under the command of Captain Josiah Hart, a man known as "Faint Hart" throughout the service.

As the Themis takes to sea to harass the enemy, the disaffection of the crew begins to boil over into acts of violence, and the lieutenant finds himself caught between his superior and a crew pushed toward mutiny. A revolution at sea ensues, and Hayden is wrenchingly torn between honor and duty, as the magnificent Royal Navy engages the French in a centuries-old struggle for power.

©2007 S. Thomas Russell (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. and Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Russell's first-rate debut features taut plotting, liberal action and an attractively modest hero." ( Publishers Weekly)

A fun listen in the Napoleonic era navy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook.
Styled along the lines of O’Brien and Forrister it holds its own.

If you love O'brian..

If you love O'brian then download this now. It will not disappoint.

Much better than Hornblower.

On to book 2 for me now.

Very good for this genre

Where does Under Enemy Colors rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

If you like books of this naval era this was good read if plot development not unexpected.

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

I chose because I like Vance as narrator & he did not disappoint

Read this book.

Any additional comments?

I thought this book was amazing! It's so easy to get invested in the characters Russell writes about. This series got me into the British Navy genre so the next on my list was the first book of the Aubry/Maturin Master and Commander series. I'm about 1/3 of the way through the first book and so far in my opinion it doesn't come close to this series for excitement and readability.
But then I was warned that the latter was a tougher read.

One the Genre’s Best

I’ve been reading Royal Navy novels for years and this is one of my very favorite

Enjoyed it

I did enjoy the story line. I will be getting more audible books like this.

Outstanding

Russell definitely rivals the best historical novels that exist. His work absolutely belongs on the same shelf with Forester, Cornwell, Lambdin, and O'Brian. I will definitely look forward to his other works.

Perfect for first timer

This is a wonderful book and expertly narrated. As a long-time nautical fiction fan, I was pleasantly surprised how well written and narrated it was. The characters are fully developed, events based on truth and not a lagging moment in the entire book. This would be a great starter NF book as it is so clearly written and with a minimum of sailing jargon. Will look forward to this author's next installment of this Hayden series. Can't miss download !

Not Jack Aubrey but still good

The hero finds himself on a ship with a terrible captain who is both cruel and cowardly. He is mainly there to spy on the captain for the Admiralty, but all kinds of events intervene. The hero is half-French, which is both an asset and a liability. There is plenty of action and some interesting side characters. The narration by Simon Vance is excellent.

Awesome!

Mr. Russell has written an outstanding story for us Royal Navy, Napoleonic war story junkies. He aptly fills the void left by the passing of Patrick O'Brian. His character, Hayden, is more likeable than Hornblower though a bit more tormented than Aubrey. Maybe he is most similar to John Pearce, David Donachie's character. And the development of the supporting cast is very much as well done as that of O'Brian. I, for one (of many I'm sure) anxiously await his next title. I would love an homage by Russell to O'Brian in the form of completing book 21.