The Good Shepherd

A Novel

C. S. Forester

- 4.3 • 125 Ratings

- $9.99

- $9.99

Now a major motion picture Greyhound on AppleTV+, a WWII naval thriller of "high and glittering excitement" (New York Times) from the author of the legendary Hornblower series

The mission of Commander George Krause of the United States Navy is to protect a convoy of thirty-seven merchant ships making their way across the icy North Atlantic from America to England. There, they will deliver desperately needed supplies, but only if they can make it through the wolfpack of German submarines that awaits and outnumbers them in the perilous seas. For forty eight hours, Krause will play a desperate cat and mouse game against the submarines, combating exhaustion, hunger, and thirst to protect fifty million dollars' worth of cargo and the lives of three thousand men. Acclaimed as one of the best novels of the year upon publication in 1955, The Good Shepherd is a riveting classic of WWII and naval warfare from one of the 20th century's masters of sea stories.

APPLE BOOKS REVIEW

C. S. Forester may be best known for his Horatio Hornblower series of nautical adventures, but this stand-alone war novel proves that his bona fides go far beyond those beloved books. Commander George Krause is in charge of a navy destroyer during World War II’s Battle of the Atlantic. Over 48 hours, Krause will have to battle German forces—along with his own fears and growing exhaustion—to protect a supply convoy and keep all his men alive. In the midst of battle, Forester depicts Krause’s ever-increasing personal doubts, both about his own fitness for command and his religious faith, as he ruminates over the sacrifice of his marriage for his military career. Throughout the whole book, we were rooting for Forester’s hero, out there in the middle of the vast, lonely ocean. The Good Shepherd is up there with The Red Badge of Courage as one of the most powerful and humane tales of wartime ever written.

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