All at Sea Trivia Quiz

Answer: Treasure Island

All the novels listed were written by Robert Louis Stevenson. The 'Hispaniola' was the ship on which the hero of the story, Jim Hawkins, sets sail in search of pirate gold. The characters also include Long John Silver who, with his wooden leg and parrot, has implanted an image of pirates which most of us can conjure up with little effort. 'Treasure Island' was published in 1883.

Answer: Herman Melville

The novella was published in 1924, after Melville's death, under the title 'Billy Budd, Sailor' and has been revised a couple of times since. Melville himself had died in 1891. The story is about the title character being pressed into service in the navy at the end of the eighteenth century and being falsely accused of inciting mutiny.

The 'other novel' mentioned in the question is called 'Moby-Dick; or, The Whale' from 1851.

Answer: The Perfect Storm

The book was published in 1997 and describes the lives of the fishermen of the boat 'Andrea Gail' based in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The early chapters create a picture of the men's lives in ordinary times. The latter part is an imagining of what might have happened when the crew found themselves caught in a great storm in 1991.

The film adaptation came out in 2000, starring George Clooney.

Answer: Cruel

The book was based on the author's own experiences during the war, serving on escorts to ships crossing the Atlantic to bring much needed supplies to Britain. They faced constant danger from German U-boats, and the book also described the difficulties faced by the civilians at home. 'The Cruel Sea' was adapted for a film version in 1953.

Answer: Swallows and Amazons

While all the options listed had numerous books about the same characters, it was Arthur Ransome who placed most of his stories on water, although primarily on the lakes of the English Lake District. The first book was called 'Swallows and Amazons' and the name was then attached to the complete series of twelve books. 'We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea' was published in 1937, with the story, as might be surmised from the title, covering an accidental journey from Essex to the Netherlands across the North Sea.

Answer: Jack Aubrey

The first book came out in 1969, and set in motion a series of twenty novels in total. Only the death of the author in 2000 brought the stories to an end. Jack Aubrey has been newly promoted to the rank of Commander at the beginning of the story, and given a warship to command. The tale, with echoes of the Montsarrat novel also in this quiz, has Aubrey's ship acting as an escort to merchant ships, before Aubrey goes on to a spot of privateering.

Hornblower features in the books of C S Forester, Marlow was created by Joseph Conrad and Norrington is a character in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' tales.

Answer: Wolf

'The Sea-Wolf' was published in 1904, the year after 'The Call of the Wild', the book which had brought London to a wide reading audience. The 'Wolf' of the title is a man named Wolf Larsen who rescues a man who has survived the sinking of a ferry. Wolf keeps the man aboard his ship, used for hunting seals, forcing him to work as a lowly crew member.

Answer: Rudyard Kipling

Kipling is remembered for his short story collections, such as the 'Just So' stories and the two 'Jungle Book' collections, and poetry, particularly 'If'. 'Captains Courageous' is one of four novels he wrote, with 'Kim' being probably the best known. 'Captains Courageous was published in 1897, with the plot telling the story of a young man who is rescued at sea in the Atlantic by a fishing boat.

While at sea, the boy learns the craft of fishing, before being reunited with his wealthy parents when the boat returns to port in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Answer: To the Ends of the Earth

The first of the three novels was published in 1980 and is written in the form of journal entries made by Edmund Talbot. He is a young man from an aristocratic family, who is travelling to Australia on board a rather decrepit ship, a former fighting vessel. The next novels, published in 1987 and 1989, show Talbot's increasing maturity, first love affair and his growing respect for the captain of the ship. The books are set in the early nineteenth century when a journey from the UK to Australia was a hazardous expedition, taking around six months to complete - assuming nothing went too badly wrong en route.

Golding's other novels include 'The Lord of the Flies' from 1954 and 'The Spire', published in 1964.

Answer: Alistair MacLean

Partly based on his own experiences, the book was MacLean's first venture into novel writing, telling the story of ships involved in the Arctic convoys to Murmansk during the Second World War. MacLean's follow up book came out two years later, and was also set during the war.

The title was 'The Guns of Navarone', later filmed with Gregory Peck and David Niven. MacLean continued to turn out best sellers, several of which were filmed, including his 1967 offering 'Where Eagles Dare'.