In command of his beloved Surprise, but in a civilian capacity, Jack Aubrey must navigate a world apart from anything he has previously known, his friend Stephen Maturin at his side. Together they embark on a voyage which, if successful, might just restore Aubrey to the rank, and the raison d'etre, whose loss he so much regrets.
Fate is fickle and few people can ever truly be trusted, but has Jack Aubrey's luck run out?
'Patrick O'Brian is unquestionably the Homer of the Napoleonic wars.'
JAMES HAMILTON-PATERSON
'My hero is Patrick O'Brian. It's basically impossible to write that well.'
DAVID MAMET
Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of their beginning, with Master and Commander, these evocative stories are being re-issued in paperback with smart new livery. This is the twelfth book in the series.