October 1789, and war clouds thunder over Europe when Richard Bolitho steers the Tempest into the perilous waters of the Great South Sea. To protect vulnerable English shipping lanes from her seagoing enemies, he must face the hazards of fickle winds, pirates, and savage islanders.

Spithead, 1784. His Majesty's Frigate, Undine, sets sail for India and the seas beyond. Europe may be at peace-but in colonial waters the promises of statesmen count for little and the bloody struggle for supremacy still goes on.

Portsmouth, 1782. His Britannic Majesty's frigate, Phalarope, is ordered to assist the hard-pressed squadrons in the Caribbean. Aboard is her new commander—Richard Bolitho. To all appearances the Phalarope is everything a young captain could wish for, but beneath the surface she is a deeply unhappy ship—her wardroom torn by petty greed and ambition, her deckhands suspected of cowardice under fire and driven to near-mutiny by senseless ill-treatment....

After the war with France has ended in 1818, Captain Adam Bolitho is given command of the newly commissioned frigate Onward and sent to North Africa on a diplomatic mission to accompany the French frigate Nautilus in a show of solidarity. He knows he is lucky-the voyage should be easy; but Adam longs for a chance to marry the beautiful Lowenna and settle down on the Bolitho estate in Cornwall. Instead he must deal with the envy and ambition of his...

In April 1778, as the French commit to the American Revolution, Richard Bolitho is given his first command of the sloop Sparrow, where he must prove his ability as a captain.