Flying Colours

Flying Colours
Flying Colours picks up immediately after the events of Ship of the Line, with Captain Horatio Hornblower a prisoner of war in Napoleonic France. Captured after a valiant but doomed naval battle, he faces the threat of execution while being transported to Paris for trial. Accompanied by his loyal coxswain, Brown, and the steadfast Lieutenant Bush, Hornblower seizes a daring chance to escape. Their journey down the Loire River leads them through enemy territory, where they find unexpected refuge with a sympathetic noblewoman, Marie de Gracay. A romance blossoms, deepening Hornblower’s emotional complexity as he balances duty, honor, and human longing. Eventually, he escapes to England, where he is hailed as a hero and promoted for his earlier exploits. Flying Colours combines tense adventure with introspection, showing Hornblower at his most human—resourceful, weary, and quietly heroic—as he endures captivity, love, and survival behind enemy lines.