Master and Commander is the first
historical novel in the
Aubrey-Maturin series by
Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1969 in the US and 1970 in UK. The story features Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and the naval surgeon Stephen Maturin, and is set in the
Napoleonic Wars. The novel proved to be the start of a 20-novel series, written from 1969 until the author's death early in 2000.