Books like The Life and Times of Horatio Hornblower

This book was a surprising little find if I do say. I don't recall where I found this book but since it was published in 1970 I can only imagine I found it in a used bookstore that I frequent. I always assumed it was a book about life in the British Navy during the Napoleonic Era much like "Patrick O'Brian's Navy", another book I have on the same subject. I was wrong. While it does detail some information of navy life at that time it is actually a biography of Horatio Hornblower. Wait! A biography of Horatio Hornblower you say! Isn't Hornblower a fictional character create by C.S. Forester? Well that's what I always thought. As a fan of this genre of fiction I now find myself really embarrassed to admit not knowing that Hornblower was a real person. I always thought him a fictional character that may have been based on a real person just as O'Brian's Capt. Jack Aubrey was based on Cochrane. Now I was really intrigued so I did some research. Wikipedia said Hornblower was fiction. Now what is going on? This book is really a good biography and the late author was no lightweight. The detail and obvious research done for this book is quite extensive. Well, to my further embarrassment, I failed to read the dust jacket which mentions that it is a FICTIONAL biography of Horatio Hornblower. I need to read these dust jackets more often and more closely even if the book is found at a half priced bookstore and a real bargain. But the book is a really good and thorough biography. It's so good in fact that even knowing that it is fiction I still can't help but doubt that it is fiction. I even tried researching some of the footnotes the author cites as authority for his statements but failed to track any of them down. I guess I have been fooled so completely that I can't believe the truth even when it is presented to me. Could a better endorsement of the book be had? I think not.