WRITER

Patrick O'Brian

1914 - 2000

Photo of Patrick O'Brian

Icon of person Patrick O'Brian

Patrick O'Brian (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series. These sea novels are set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centre on the friendship of the English naval captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen Maturin. The 20-novel series, the first of which is Master and Commander, is known for its well-researched and highly detailed portrayal of early 19th-century life, as well as its authentic and evocative language. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Patrick O'Brian has received more than 1,571,732 page views. His biography is available in 25 different languages on Wikipedia. Patrick O'Brian is the 2,108th most popular writer (down from 2,069th in 2019), the 1,590th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 1,623rd in 2019) and the 169th most popular British Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.6M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 55.82

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 25

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.03

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.09

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

The Mauritius Command
Fiction, Fiction in English, Jack Aubrey (Fictitious character)
Desolation Island
Fiction, Fiction in English, Jack Aubrey (Fictitious character)
Master & Commander
Fiction, Jack Aubrey (Fictitious character), Naval History
Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin form a friendship in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy is described.
The Thirteen Gun Salute
Ship captains, Ship physicians, Fiction
The nutmeg of consolation
Ship captains, History, Naval, Ship physicians
The fortune of war
Fiction, History, Naval, Jack Aubrey (Fictitious character)
The Far Side of the World
Fiction, historical, Great britain, fiction, Fiction, action & adventure
The Mauritius Command
Jack Aubrey (Fictitious character), Stephen Maturin (Fictitious character), Naval History
Desolation Island Audio
Ship captains, Jack Aubrey (Fictitious character), Naval History
Commissioned to rescue Governor Bligh, Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and surgeon Stephen Maturin sail to Australia with a hold full of convicts. On board is a beautiful and dangerous spy, and a treacherous disease which decimates the crew.
Master and Commander
Unabridged Audio - Fiction/General, Fiction, Historical - General
This is book 1 in the Aubrey/Maturin series. Here is the maiden voyage of O'Brian's acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series, which follows the unique friendship between Captain Aubrey, R.N., and Stephen Maturin, ship's surgeon and intelligence agent, against the backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. O'Brian renders in riveting detail the life aboard a man-of-war in Nelson's navy: the conversational idiom of the officers in the ward room and the men on the lower deck, the food, the floggings, the mysteries of the wind and the rigging, and the roar of broadsides as the great ships close in battle. - Publisher.
H.M.S. Surprise
Ship captains, Jack Aubrey (Fictitious character), Naval History
Clarissa Oakes (US title
Ship captains, History, Naval, Ship physicians

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Patrick O'Brian ranks 2,108 out of 7,302Before him are Marthe Bibesco, James Hilton, François Coppée, Terry Brooks, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Michael Choniates. After him are D. R. Bendre, Ramón Sampedro, Gaston Paris, Sholem Asch, James Herbert Brennan, and Orderic Vitalis.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1914, Patrick O'Brian ranks 105Before him are Jens Otto Krag, Edward Schillebeeckx, Álvaro del Portillo, Alberto Lattuada, Go Seigen, and Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover. After him are Juan Carlos Onganía, George Reeves, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Kirill Kondrashin, Vladimir Chelomey, and Ilmari Juutilainen. Among people deceased in 2000, Patrick O'Brian ranks 84Before him are Libertad Lamarque, Andy Hug, Yehuda Amichai, Hubert Maga, Prince Tomislav of Yugoslavia, and José Águas. After him are Pierre Pflimlin, Roger Peyrefitte, Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, Tito Puente, Terence McKenna, and Steven Runciman.

Others Born in 1914

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Others Deceased in 2000

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Patrick O'Brian ranks 1,590 out of 8,785Before him are Henry Allingham (1896), Elizabeth Blount (1500), Gytha of Wessex (1053), Robert Filmer (1588), James Hilton (1900), and Neville Marriner (1924). After him are Francis Baily (1774), Ida Lupino (1918), Alexander Mackenzie (1764), James Herbert Brennan (1940), Orderic Vitalis (1075), and Eliza Poe (1787).

Among WRITERS In United Kingdom

Among writers born in United Kingdom, Patrick O'Brian ranks 169Before him are Christopher Isherwood (1904), Karen Armstrong (1944), Philip Kerr (1956), Clive Barker (1952), George MacDonald (1824), and James Hilton (1900). After him are James Herbert Brennan (1940), Orderic Vitalis (1075), James Boswell (1740), Aphra Behn (1640), Kenneth Grahame (1859), and William Caxton (1422).