Is the new Russel Crowe movie about Christopher Columbus?

No. It's based on a series of books written by Patrick O'Brian. Here's a link to the series on Amazon.com.

oh neat. you've read these? do you recommend?

I've never read them. I found them because I was also trying to figure out what Master and Commander was about. Judging from the comments made on Amazon, they look pretty good and I might pick th...