MATURIN

Master and Commander was first published in 1969, in the US by Lippincott, and in Great Britain and Ireland by Collins in 1970. The series continued to be a modest success in both countries, though publication was only by Collins in the UK after the fourth novel. Publication in the US ceased with Desolation Island in 1978.[19][20] However, in 1989 Starling Lawrence of W. W. Norton discovered the novels on a plane flight between London and New York.[21] W. W. Norton began printing the books, and they were taken more seriously by critics and became a publishing success. O'Brian's series of novels sold over 400,000 copies in the next two years and continued to be a success, selling over 2 million copies by 2000.[1] In its review of the last unfinished novel in 2004, Publishers Weekly reported that the series had sold over 6 million copies.[22] W. W. Norton released the novels in e-book format on 5 December 2011.[23] The full series has been published in German, French and Italian..