Authors · NYT Hardcover Fiction

C. S. Forester

Charting May 15, 1939 → Oct 28, 1962 · 100 weeks with chart power

Peak Power: 6.54%; week of Jul 10, 1955
Career Power: 648; share-weeks
Weeks at #1: 0; weeks as the top author

Peak Year: 130; August 1954 – August 1955
Peak Five Years: 246; August 1936 – August 1941
Top-five weeks: 40; weeks ranked 1–5
Longevity: 100; weeks with chart power
Dominance: 12.64%; week of Jun 30, 1941
Comebacks: 4; July 1945, May 1950, May 1952, May 1955

Comebacks (thresholds from `config/scoring.json`)
Kind	Trough began	Returned	Trough weeks	Longest absence	Prior peak	Return share
After absence	Oct 27, 1941	Jul 15, 1945	194	192	5.91%	2.81%
After decline	Dec 29, 1946	May 14, 1950	176	88	5.91%	2.37%
After decline	Jun 25, 1950	May 11, 1952	98	95	5.91%	2.52%
After decline	Aug 24, 1952	May 1, 1955	139	76	5.91%	2.58%

Ranked by weekly Power Share, part of the ChartReign Power model — not the list's own positions (config version 4, Sep 22, 2026). How it works →

Exponentially smoothed share of the week's total power (the primary metric).

Titles on the NYT Hardcover Fiction

12 books · 648 share-weeks of Career Power

Power contributed is what each book earned this author: their weekly Power Share, split across their books (a featured credit takes its reduced share). Book Power is the book's own figure, the same for every author on it. Bar length compares books within this list.

Title	Peak	Weeks	On chart	Power contributedPower	Book Power
The Good Shepherd	#4May 1955	18	April 1955 – August 1955	129.5	129.5
Captain Horatio Hornblower	#4May 1939	15	May 1939 – January 1940	123.5	123.5
Commodore Hornblower	#3August 1945	13	July 1945 – October 1945	105.9	105.9
The Captain from Connecticut	#2June 1941	7	June 1941 – August 1941	76.8	76.8
Lieutenant Hornblower	#5May 1952	13	April 1952 – July 1952	53.9	53.9
To the Indies	#4August 1940	5	August 1940 – September 1940	45.6	45.6
Hornblower and the Hotspur	#6September 1962	9	September 1962 – October 1962	31.6	31.6
Mr.Midshipman Hornblower	#8April 1950	8	April 1950 – May 1950	31.3	31.3
Lord Hornblower	#5October 1946	6	October 1946 – November 1946	31.2	31.2
The Sky and the Forest	#10September 1948	3	September 1948 – September 1948	10.6	10.6
Hornblower and the Atropos	#13October 1953	2	October 1953 – October 1953	4.6	4.6
Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies	#12October 1958	1	October 1958	3.2	3.2