THE FRENCH ADMIRAL

The story's theater of battle is the American Revolutionary War, which finds British , French, and Revolutionary forces in a conflict of self-interest between their governments, all the while they carry out the mariners' eternal conquest of fair ladies. John Lee performs Lambdin's serial sea story like an action play, in which he takes all the parts, but mostly the one of the midshipman hero, Alan Lewrie. Alliterated lines like "brandishing his bloody blade" provide ample poetic fodder for such a natural bard. Using accents and every possible change of voice, Lee transforms a plodding and action-deprived sea story into an entertaining theatrical experience. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 02]