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.