In his magisterial two-volume work, Eric Gautier brings to life, with unerring historical precision, the constant struggle for maritime supremacy between the French and English during the second half of the eighteenth century. In so doing, he fuses the breadth of Dumas with the accuracy of O’Brian and the charm of Forester, creating his own distinct and trustworthy voice.His hero, a young French noble, orphaned in mysterious circumstances, enrols as a Navy cadet at...

In his magisterial two-volume work, Eric Gautier brings to life, with unerring historical precision, the constant struggle for maritime supremacy between the French and English during the second half of the eighteenth century. In so doing, he fuses the breadth of Dumas with the accuracy of O’Brian and the charm of Forester, creating his own distinct and trustworthy voice.His hero, a young French noble, orphaned in mysterious circumstances, enrols as a Navy cadet at...

Step into C.S. Forester's classic seafaring tales about Horatio Hornblower from the author of The Good Shepherd, now a major-motion picture starring Tom Hanks'A joyous creation, a perfection in words. Young Hornblower is, simply, one of the most complete creations of character in fiction' Conn Iggulden, The IndependentJoin Horatio Hornblower and as he sets sail on a world of adventure, fighting against the ruthless Napoleo...

1813, and Horatio Hornblower is propelled toward the heart of the French Empire and his old enemy, Napoleon . . . Sir Horatio Hornblower has received strict and highly confidential orders from the highest rank: he must embark upon a grave and perilous mission to recapture the Flame in the Bay of Seine, where the brutal and foul-tempered Lieutenant Augustine Chadwick is being held prisoner by a mutinous crew. Rescuing the Lieutenant demands all of Horatio’s spirit and seafaring prowess – fo...

April 1814. Napoleon is deposed and exiled after defeat by a resurgent allied collation. Saddled with huge war debts, the British government has no choice but to place many of its naval ships in reserve.Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is one of the lucky officers not to be put on half pay. Instead, in the realisation of his life's ambition, he is offered an admiral's flag, but the station is West Africa and with it comes anti-slavery operations set in fever-ridden swamps. ...

Ramage is suddenly caught behind enemy lines when on honeymoon in France, as the Peace of Amien unexpectedly ends. The story chronicles his escape and dashing adventures in true Ramage style; as an enemy ship is captured and a sub-plot develops involving a pursuit to the prison colony on Devil’s Island.

Extraordinary maritime heroes of the late 18th and early 19th centuries stride across these pages - some, like Warren, Pellew, Cochrane and Collingwood, are still renowned; others are almost unknown today, yet their brilliant exploits deserve to be pulled from under the long shadow of the greatest naval figure of all, Horatio Nelson. The Royal Navy's struggle is set against the political backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars and the sea war with America.

It is the summer of 1804 and Napoleon is massing his vast army for the invasion of England. Nathaniel Drinkwater has command of HMS Antigone, and he and his men are sent to patrol the Channel coast, helping the Royal Navy maintain a blockade of the enemy's ports.As Nelson's and Napoleon's mighty fleets draw closer to one another, Drinkwater is unprepared for the role that destiny deals him when he becomes a prisoner of the French and suddenly finds himself on the wrong sid...

The brief respite of the Peace of Amiens is over, and Britain is once again at war with France. Napoléon knows that if he is to win the war, he must invade England, but the Armée d'Angleterre is blockaded in Boulogne by the Royal Navy. Frustrated by British sea power, Napoléon entrusts an alternative scheme to the brilliant Captain Morlaix which if successful, could lead to the subjugation of Britain.During the Peace, English visitors had flocked to France, among them Midshipmen St...

A major new translation of a stunning rediscovered novel by Alexandre Dumas, Georges is a classic swashbuckling adventure. Brilliantly translated by Tina A. Kover in lively, fluid prose, this is Dumas’s most daring work, in which his themes of intrigue and romance are illuminated by the issues of racial prejudice and the profound quest for identity.Georges Munier is a sensitive boy growing up in the nineteenth century on the island of Mauritius. The son of a wealthy mulatt...

The lost final novel by the master of the epic swashbuckling adventure stories: The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.The last cavalier is Count de Sainte-Hermine, Hector, whose elder brothers and father have fought and died for the Royalist cause during the French Revolution. For three years Hector has been languishing in prison when, in 1804, on the eve of Napoleon's coronation as emperor of France he learns what is to be his due. Stripped of his title, denied the ho...

In June 1816, the Medusa, flagship of a French expedition to repossess the colony of Senegal from the British, set sail but ran aground off the desolate West African coast. The evacuation of the frigate was chaotic and cowardly - 146 men and one woman were herded aboard a makeshift raft which was then abandoned in mid-ocean, cut loose by the convoy of lifeboats which had pledged to tow it to safety. The drifting raft carried those who survived to the very frontiers of human experi...