Patrick O'Brian,
CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born
Richard Patrick Russ, was an English
novelist and translator, best known for his
Aubrey–Maturin series, a series of
sea novels set in the
Royal Navy during the
Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of 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. A partially finished twenty-first novel in the series was published posthumously containing facing pages of handwriting and typescript. He wrote a number of other novels and short stories which were mostly published before he achieved success with the Aubrey–Maturin series. He also translated works from French to English, and wrote two biographies.