Before C.S. Forester achieved literary success with his famous saga of Captain Horatio Hornblower and the great romantic novels such as "e;The Africa Queen"e;, he had a difficult time making his start as an author. Long Before Forty is the account of his lonely struggle to learn how to write. The concluding section, "e;Some Personal Notes,"e; is a memoir of his creation of the famous Captain Hornblower!