From internationally bestselling author Julian Stockwell comes a dramatic nautical adventure closely based on real events following one man’s journey to become a true sailor of the Royal Navy and defender of 18th-century Britain.
Europe is ablaze with the Napoleonic Wars. The British prime minister is under pressure to intimidate the French and dispatches a Navy squadron to appear off the French coast. To man the ships, ordinary citizens must be press-ganged.
Thomas Paine Kydd, a young wig-maker from Guildford, is seized and taken across the country to be part of the crew of the ninety-eight-gun line-of-battle ship Duke William. The ship sails immediately and Kydd has to learn the harsh realities of shipboard life amid war at sea. Despite all he goes through, amid dangers of tempest and battle, he comes to admire the skills and courage of his fellow seamen, taking up the challenge to become a true British sailor defending his nation.
Kydd launches a masterly naval fiction series, rich with action, exceptional characters, and authentic detail—a classic tale of maritime courage and survival in the Age of Sail.
