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A Dangerous Game
- Author
- Peter Moore
- Narrator
- Ric Jerrom, Peter Moore
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 3 September 2026
- Run Time
- 27 hours 24 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
The astonishing true story of Thomas Cochrane – naval hero, political radical and inspiration for Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey – whose audacity at sea, scandals on land and battles across empires make for a tale as thrilling as any novel.
Cochrane’s life was even more remarkable than the fiction it inspired. A hero of the Napoleonic Wars, known for destroying the French Atlantic fleet in one explosive attack, he was an equally aggressive force in British politics as the radical MP for Westminster.
Cochrane’s fortunes turned in 1814, when he was convicted of a fraud on the Stock Exchange. After escaping from prison, he later reinvented himself as a revolutionary admiral, helping the Chileans, Peruvians, Brazilians and Greeks in their struggles for independence.
In A Dangerous Game, the Sunday Times-bestselling historian Peter Moore draws on newly uncovered materials to bring Cochrane vividly to life. Bold, rebellious and uncompromising, he saw the world as a contest to be won – at sea, in politics, even in scandal – and played it more dangerously than any man of his era.
'I wish Patrick O'Brian was alive to read this' NIKOLAI TOLSTOY
'A master historian and storyteller... an extraordinary subject' MATTHEW PARKER
'Brilliant, pacy and utterly enthralling' ANTONIA SENIOR
© Peter Moore 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
Critics Review
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[A] magnificent scholarly vindication
Times Literary Supplement
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This is surely the definitive account of this extraordinary man. Moore does not shy away from the dark side [of Cochrane]… but in doing so he makes the story only more compelling… compulsively readable… I have not enjoyed a book more for a long time
The Times
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Gripping... A Dangerous Game must surely be the last word on a man who was once a national hero
Literary Review
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I could only wish Patrick O'Brian was alive to have read this
NIKOLAI TOLSTOY
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The brilliant, dashing, outrageous Thomas Cochrane, who inspired so many works of thrilling fiction, has received a fitting tribute; Peter Moore’s A Dangerous Game unfolds the events of this amazing life with a verve worthy of the man.
CAROLINE ALEXANDER, author of The Endurance and The Bounty
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A master historian and storyteller meets a truly extraordinary subject. The result is history that explodes off the page
MATTHEW PARKER, author of One Fine Day
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An extraordinary biography... a brilliant, pacy and utterly enthralling account of one of the greatest characters in naval fiction. If you are a Hornblower fan, or a Jack Aubrey obsessive, this account of the man whose real life exploits inspired the greatest Age of Sail novelists is unmissable. As a lifelong devotee of Patrick O'Brian and CS Forester, I read this true-life account of Lord Cochrane's exploits with deep pleasure and the occasional moment of delighted recognition as the fictional and the real collided
ANTONIA SENIOR, author of Stalin's Apostles
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With wonderfully balletic, graceful prose, Moore thrillingly brings Thomas Cochrane’s absurdly entertaining story to life. From the Napoleonic wars to Latin American revolutions, Moore vividly captures the brilliant, brave and brooding naval hero in all his complexity. A Dangerous Game is history and biography at its finest
EDWARD SHAWCROSS, author of The Last Emperor of Mexico
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Thomas Cochrane’s life was almost absurdly eventful: a fearless warrior, a naval hero, a politician and an unlikely revolutionary, he was also a symbol of his turbulent and rumbustious age. Peter Moore’s gripping account perfectly encapsulates all of his vices and virtues. A triumph
RICHARD STRACHAN, author of Night Fire and The Unrecovered
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A meticulously researched, widely accessible, highly entertaining and, at times, shocking book. Cochrane was, most definitely, the best kind of hero: purged, loved, misunderstood, dangerous, humble, and, importantly, always for the people
LOUIS D HALL, author of In Green
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Peter Moore
- Narrator
- Ric Jerrom, Peter Moore
- Duration
- 27 hours 24 minutes
- Release Date
- 3 September 2026
- ISBN
- 9781529974898
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Biography: historical, political and military, Naval forces and warfare, Colonialism and imperialism, Revolutions, uprisings, rebellions
Synopsis
The astonishing true story of Thomas Cochrane – naval hero, political radical and inspiration for Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey – whose audacity at sea, scandals on land and battles across empires make for a tale as thrilling as any novel.Cochrane’s life was even more remarkable than the fiction it inspired. A hero of the Napoleonic Wars, known for destroying the French Atlantic fleet in one explosive attack, he was an equally aggressive force in British politics as the radical MP for Westminster.Cochrane’s fortunes turned in 1814, when he was convicted of a fraud on the Stock Exchange. After escaping from prison, he later reinvented himself as a revolutionary admiral, helping the Chileans, Peruvians, Brazilians and Greeks in their struggles for independence.In A Dangerous Game, the Sunday Times-bestselling historian Peter Moore draws on newly uncovered materials to bring Cochrane vividly to life. Bold, rebellious and uncompromising, he saw the world as a contest to be won – at sea, in politics, even in scandal – and played it more dangerously than any man of his era.'I wish Patrick O'Brian was alive to read this' NIKOLAI TOLSTOY'A master historian and storyteller... an extraordinary subject' MATTHEW PARKER'Brilliant, pacy and utterly enthralling' ANTONIA SENIOR© Peter Moore 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026
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