Vivian Stuart, née Violet Vivian Finlay (1914–1986) was born in Rangoon, Burma (now also known as Myanmar). The majority of her youth was spent in Burma and India, and during her life, she frequently journeyed between Rangoon, Singapore, Java and Sumatra. She married three times during her lifetime, and had four children.
She studied medicine at the University of London and obtained a pathologist qualification at the University of Budapest in 1938, after which she emigrated to Australia with her second husband, a Hungarian Doctor with whom she worked. In 1942, she obtained a diploma in industrial chemistry and laboratory technique at Technical Institute of Newcastle. Finlay joined the Australian Forces during World War II and was attached to the IVth Army. She was later transferred to British XIV Army in Burma.
She is also published under the names V. A. Stuart and William Stuart Long. Also the books in this series are published under alternate titles.
The series is about Phillip Horatio Hazard and is set in the early days of steam. The settings are the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny. The principal character takes part in land based naval operations assisting the army and therefore major parts of some novels may be land based.
Age of Sail: Fiction
AOS Naval Fiction |
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| Series: Phillip Hazard | ||
| Year | Book | Comment |
| 1853 | The Valiant Sailors | First Lieutenant Phillip Hazard of the frigate Trojan is on his way to the Black Sea. |
| 1854 | The Brave Captains | Phillip Hazard is appointed naval liaison officer for the British Army. |
| Hazard's Command (Black Sea Frigate) |
Commander Phillip Hazard of the steam-screw frigate Trojan is sent to bring reinforcements from Constantinople. | |
| Hazard of Huntress | Hazard, newly promoted to command of the steam-powered Huntress is sent to spy into Odessa. | |
| 1855 | Hazard in Circassia | Hazard of HMS Huntress is dispatched with a select handful of his crew to seek out the guerrilla leader Serfir Pasha . |
| 1855 | Victory at Sebastopol (Hazard to the Rescue) |
HMS Huntress undertakes a crucial mission of marking a new channel for an Allied attack under shore batteries. |
| Guns to the Far East (Shannon's Brigade) |
Hazard finds himself in China, serving under the fiery Commodore Keppel | |
| Escape from Hell (Sailors on Horseback) |
With the Sepoy Mutiny still threatening lives, Hazard volunteers to accompany a special army force. | |
AOS Other Nautical Fiction |
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| Series: The Australian series (others in the series are not nautical) | ||
| Year | Book | Comment |
| The Seafarers | Two young merchant traders struggle for a share of Australia's profitable seafaring industry | |
Non-Fiction
AOS Naval Non Fiction |
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| Series: n/a | ||
| Year | Book | Comment |
| The Beloved Little Admiral | Admiral of the Fleet the Hon.Sir Henry Keppel,G.C.B.,O.M.,D.C.L.,1809-1904 | |
| His Majesty's Sloop-of-war: Diamond Rock | The story of how Diamond Rock was captured by the Royal Navy and turned into a fixed battery | |