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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 502 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 502 pagesAbout this book
What makes a gentleman when danger tests his courage and love pulls against duty?
In The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea, Alfred Ollivant takes adventure onto open water. A ship, its crew, and dangers from weather and men frame a tale of honour under pressure. At its heart stands a question: what does good character demand when keeping your word becomes hard?
The ship forms a small society, with officers and hands, order and discipline, loyalty and grudges. Love brings another pull against duty. Ollivant builds his sea romance through scenes and action, strong feelings, and clear contrasts between good conduct and bad. Courage matters, but so does the way a man treats others.
What you’ll discover
- Honour put to the test Explore a code that asks a man to keep his word and protect the weak.
- Love against duty Feel the tension between strong affection and the demands of doing what is right.
- A world aboard ship Step among officers and hands, where discipline, loyalty, and grudges shape life together.
- Danger on open water Follow a sea adventure whose threats come from both the weather and other men.
- Character revealed through action Discover storytelling that brings courage and loyalty into focus through bold deeds and strong contrasts.
Who will love it
Readers who love sea fights, sword duels and underdog stands will find plenty here. It suits anyone drawn to Nelson and to stories where faith and laughter share the page with danger.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A rough stranger earns Kit's respect
- A captured lugger carries a secret
- Battle reveals courage and its cost
- A dying commander gives Kit responsibility
- An enemy refuses to kill Kit
- A hidden drain offers a chance
- Faith gives courage somewhere to stand
- Honour reaches across opposing sides
- Small people carry a great trust
Who’s who
- Kit CaryllA fifteen-year-old midshipman on his first voyage, brave and sensitive, who is trusted with a secret that could save Nelson.
- Commander HardingCalled old Ding-dong, a stubborn old sea dog who commands the sloop Tremendous and fought beside Kit's father.
- Lushy LanyonThe ship's gunner, a boastful drunkard who becomes a terrific fighter whenever battle begins.
- Black DiamondA dismissed sailor turned smuggler chief, bent on revenge against the Navy and paid by the French.
- The GentlemanA charming French general of Irish blood, called Fighting Fitz, who rides across Sussex on his chestnut mare with dispatches for Napoleon.
- Parson JoyHarry Joy, a former Black Borderer captain and swordsman, now living in a flint cottage and longing to fight the French.
- Ralph PiperA legless old foretopman who served under Nelson, reads his devotional book and defends the cottage with calm faith.
- BlobA simple Sussex boy with a cherub face who fights whoever is near and wants his penny for every Frenchman.
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The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea
by Alfred Ollivant · 1908
A drunken gunner, a dying commander and a boy with a scent bottle race to save Nelson on the Sussex cliffs.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“I will still go forward.”
In short
Picture a huge man on a grey horse, driving it down a Sussex lane in the August dusk, blood on his neckcloth. He reaches the harbour at Newhaven, and the horse drops dead beneath him.
The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 35 min5 h 15 min fast, 7 h 50 min slow
- Length
- 94,200 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1908by Alfred Ollivant
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A rider's fury sends a boy to sea
The story opens above Boulogne in July 1805, with Napoleon looking across the sea toward England. A huge riding officer named Big Jerry Ram arrives on his dying grey, flings himself into a boat, and finds its helmsman is a cool young midshipman. The boy is Kit Caryll, and he has little patience for Jerry's rudeness.
Kit teases the big man about a ride for a drink. Jerry answers with plain dignity that he bred, broke and loved that horse. Kit is ashamed at once, and the two begin to like each other.
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A drunken gunner, a dying commander and a boy with a scent bottle race to save Nelson on the Sussex cliffs.
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Details
- First published
- 1908
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 7 h 10 min
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 502 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 502 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 712 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 712 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
- Printed when you order. Usually here in 12 to 14 days.Arrives Wed 2 Dec to Tue 8 Decto United States, printed for you at cost
For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
Ollivant, Alfred. The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-gentleman-a-romance-of-the-sea.
Ollivant, A. (2026). The gentleman: A romance of the sea. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-gentleman-a-romance-of-the-sea (Original work published 1908)
Ollivant, Alfred. The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-gentleman-a-romance-of-the-sea.
@book{ollivant2026gentleman,
author = {Ollivant, Alfred},
title = {The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-gentleman-a-romance-of-the-sea},
note = {First published 1908}
}
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What is The Gentleman by Alfred Ollivant about?
It follows a young midshipman, Kit Caryll, who in 1805 carries a secret note about a plot to capture Nelson. He meets smugglers, French privateers, a charming enemy general and a band of defenders in a Sussex flint cottage.
Who is the Gentleman in the book?
He is a French general of Irish blood, nicknamed Fighting Fitz, who rides across Sussex carrying dispatches for Napoleon. He is brave, witty and chivalrous, and he repeatedly spares Kit even though they are enemies.
Is The Gentleman a true story?
It is a novel, though set in the real summer of 1805, when Napoleon massed an invasion army at Boulogne and Nelson was hunting the French fleet. Nelson, Pitt and Napoleon appear, while Kit and his companions are invented.
The author
Alfred Ollivant
1874–1927 · British novelist
Alfred Ollivant (1874–1927) was a British novelist. He was born in Nuthurst, Sussex, and died in London. His novel Bob, Son of Battle was published in 1898. He also wrote The Gentleman: A Romance of the Sea and Two Men: A Romance of Sussex.
“I will still go forward.”
More by Alfred Ollivant
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