The Hundred Days (novel)

The Hundred Days (novel)

The Hundred Days (1998) is a historical novel written by British author Patrick O'Brian. It is the nineteenth novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series, set during the Napoleonic Wars. The title refers to the Hundred Days, a period when Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from Elba and temporarily returned to power in France.

In the novel, Stephen's wife Diana dies, as does Aubrey's mother-in-law, Mrs Williams and her equally unpleasant companion, in a crash when Diana's rash driving overturns their coach. Diana's death leaves Stephen completely shattered, unwilling to eat or speak for long periods of time, but he pulls himself together to foil Napoleon's latest plot. Christine Hatherleigh's husband, Captain Wood, the colonial governor of Sierra Leone also dies (Dr Glover tells Stephen their marriage was almost a sham given that the husband was impotent). Aubrey's coxswain, Barret Bonden, is killed in single ship action.

Aubrey's squadron is dispatched to the Ionian and Adriatic to put an end to Bonapartist shipbuilding there, and to persuade French ships to come over to the Allies, and to take, sink, burn, or destroy those that do not. It is also the intention of a Muslim confederacy to prevent the junction of the Russian and Prussian armies, or at least to delay it long enough for Napoleon's superior numbers to crush each of the Allied states separately. However, the large number of Muslim mercenaries require payment, which is to come from a Muslim state on the confines of Morocco, travelling by way of Algiers. Maturin and his assistant, Dr Jacob, are on board the Surprise to help intercept this payment.