The
Aubrey–Maturin series is a sequence of
nautical historical novels—20 completed and one
unfinished—by
Patrick O'Brian, set during the
Napoleonic Wars and centering on the friendship between Captain
Jack Aubrey of the
Royal Navy and his ship's surgeon
Stephen Maturin, a physician,
natural philosopher, and
intelligence agent. The first novel,
Master and Commander, was published in 1969 and the last finished novel in 1999. The 21st novel of the series, left unfinished at O'Brian's death in 2000, appeared in print in late 2004. The series received considerable international acclaim and most of the novels reached
The New York Times Best Seller list. These novels comprised the canon of an author often compared to
Jane Austen,
C. S. Forester and other British authors central to the
English literature canon. The 2003 film
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World took material from books in this series, notably
Master and Commander,
HMS Surprise,
The Letter of Marque,
The Fortune of War, and particularly
The Far Side of the World.
Russell Crowe played the role of Jack Aubrey, and
Paul Bettany that of Stephen Maturin.