Brown on Resolution

Heat, thirst and sharp volcanic rock surround Albert Brown on a remote island in the Galapagos. The young leading seaman's desperate condition opens C. S. Forester's naval novel, which also follows the cruiser Charybdis from Singapore into the Pacific as war begins. Its crew looks forward to action against German ships, but Brown understands the danger posed by vessels with greater speed and stronger guns. He faces that prospect with courage while hoping that wartime service might bring promotion.

Naval strategy and the demands of life at sea share the page with Brown's private hopes. Forester describes the problems of finding an enemy squadron across a vast ocean, supplying ships with coal and keeping their machinery working. Alongside those calculations, Brown's feverish vision of cool water and friendship with a German boy brings the story back to individual suffering. The contrast gives readers of sea fiction a view of duty, ambition and the human cost of conflict.