{"product_id":"master-and-commander-9780393541588","title":"Master and Commander","description":"\u003cp\u003eArdent, gregarious British naval officer Jack Aubrey is elated to be given his first appointment as commander: the fourteen-gun ship HMS \u003cem\u003eSophie\u003c\/em\u003e. Meanwhile--after a heated first encounter that nearly comes to a duel--Aubrey and a brilliant but down-on-his-luck physician, Stephen Maturin, strike up an unlikely rapport. On a whim, Aubrey invites Maturin to join his crew as the \u003cem\u003eSophie\u003c\/em\u003e's surgeon. And so begins the legendary friendship that anchors this beloved saga set against the thrilling backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThrough every ensuing adventure on which Aubrey and Maturin embark, from the witty parley of their lovers and enemies to the roar of broadsides as great ships close in battle around them, O'Brian \"provides endlessly varying shocks and surprises--comic, grim, farcical and tragic.... [A] whole, solidly living world for the imagination to inhabit\" (A. S. Byatt).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eO'Brian, Patrick:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - One of our greatest contemporary novelists, \u003cstrong\u003ePatrick O'Brian\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of the twenty volumes of the best-selling Aubrey\/Maturin series, as well as many other books, including \u003cem\u003eTestimonies\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Golden Ocean\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Unknown Shore\u003c\/em\u003e, and biographies of Joseph Banks and Picasso.","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50591731646738,"sku":"9780393541588","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b108b3be-c1b7-41d8-a118-bcc49d15eb1a.jpg?v=1732094422","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/master-and-commander-9780393541588","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}