Showing results by author "Julian Stockwin" in All Categories

1812. Arriving back in England after his successes in the Adriatic, Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is bestowed with honours. In London, he's greeted by the Prince Regent, who, despite Kydd's protestations that he's happy with his present command, insists he be given a bigger ship - HMS Thunderer, a 74-gun ship of the line. But she's old, and being part of a standing fleet, Kydd's chances of further fame and distinction are slim indeed.

Thomas Kydd, a hero of Trafalgar, holds the glory of being Post-Captain of the 32-gun frigate, L'Aurore. A Caribbean posting seems a welcome respite for the war hero, but when more and more merchantmen begin vanishing from the sea, fear starts to spread. Kydd must embark on a dangerous game of espionage in order to destroy this new and terrible danger to the Empire.

Forced to flee Rome, merchant Nicander meets an unlikely ally in the form of Marius, a fierce Roman legionary. Escaping to a new life in Constantinople, the two land upon its shores lonely and penniless. Needing to make money fast, they plot a wicked plan to steal precious silk seeds from the faraway land of Seres. Nicander and Marius must embark upon a terrifyingly treacherous journey across unknown lands never before completed.

1811. The Adriatic, the 'French Lake', is now the most valuable territory Napoleon Bonaparte possesses. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd finds his glorious return to England cut short when the Admiralty summons him to lead a squadron of frigates into these waters to cause havoc and distress to the enemy. Kydd is dubbed 'The Sea Devil' by Bonaparte who personally appoints one of his favourites, Dubourdieu, along with a fleet that greatly outweighs the British, to rid him of this menace.

Compelling naval action from the master of the sea story. November 1807. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd must sail to Lisbon to aid the Portuguese Royal Family's evacuation in the face of Napoleon's ruthless advance through Iberia. In the chaos of the threatened city, an old passion is reawakened when he meets Persephone Lockwood, a beautiful and determined admiral's daughter from his past. But the Royal Family's destination is Brazil, Perspehone's England, and it seems Kydd's chance has gone again.

Kydd is in Halifax when Tenacious is summoned to join Horatio Nelson on an urgent reconnaissance mission. However, Bonaparte evades the British ships, sailing towards Egypt, which holds the key to the route to India.

Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar removed the spectre of invasion and England is now free to seek conquests and colonies in the furthest reaches of the world. Captain Kydd joins an expedition to take Dutch-held Cape Town, a strategic imperative to secure the rich trade-route to India. But even if the British can defeat the enemy and take possession of the capital, there is still more fighting to be done.

Thomas Kydd was promoted to acting lieutenant at the bloody Battle of Camperdown in October 1797. Now he must sit an exam to confirm his rank or face an inglorious return before the mast.

The greatest naval trial in the Georgian period is underway at Portsmouth with the court-martial of Sir Home Popham, Captain Sir Thomas Kydd's commanding officer in the doomed occupation of Buenos Aires. Kydd has some sympathy for Popham's unauthorised action, but his support for his former commander leaves him athwart some very influential people in the admiralty. With his frigate, L'Aurore, unfit for sea, Kydd is given a commission that some hope will destroy his career.