Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (originally published in 1950) is a novel written by C. S. Forester. Although it may be considered as the first episode in the Hornblower saga, it was written as a prequel, the first Hornblower novel, The Happy Return, being published in 1937. Unlike all other Hornblower books, this novel is episodic, with named chapters that often focus on a self contained incident. Many major plot elements of the Hornblower TV series were drawn from this volume, as well as from Lieutenant Hornblower and Hornblower and the Atropos.