A nobel prize winner for literature, bertrand russell is considered one of The Hand of Destiny is a short story C.S. Forester wrote about his most popular character, Horatio Hornblower, written in 1940, and published in Collier's magazine. Sanford Sternlicht, author of C. S. Forester and the Hornblower Saga, notes the story has multiple inconsistencies with later stories. He also notes elements of the story that Forester re-used in later stories.
In the story Hornblower is 20 years old, and has just been promoted to Lieutenant. Sternlicht places the story in late 1796. Forester has Hornblower recently transferred from serving under Edward Pellew, the genuine naval hero who is Hornblower's first mentor. But Sternlicht notes that in Mr Midshipman Hornblower Hornblower serves under Pellew until 1797.