Captain Jack Aubrey, R. N., ashore after a successful cruise, is persuaded by a casual acquaintance to make certain investments in the City. This innocent decision ensnares him in the London criminal underground and in government espionage-the province of his friend Stephen Maturin. Is Aubrey's humiliation and the threatened ruin of his career a deliberate plot? This dark tale is a fitting backdrop to the brilliant characterization and sparkling dialogue...

Fletcher Christian, master's mate on HMS Bounty prepares to seize control of a ship torn apart by the sadism of her captain.

1st American ed.

A British whaler has been captured by an ambitious chief in the sandwich islands at French instigation, and Captain Aubrey, R. N., Is dispatched with the Surprise to restore order. But stowed away in the cable-tier is an escaped female convict. To the officers, Clarissa Harvill is an object of awkward courtliness and dangerous jealousies. Aubrey himself is won over and indeed strongly attracted to this woman who will not speak of her past. But only...

Captain Horatio Hornblower and the undaunted crew of the Sutherland set sail to rival the exploits of Napoleon's ships.

Following his rapid rise through the ranks of the King's Navy, Hornblower is assigned to the HMS Renown which is sailing to the West Indies to subdue a pirate fleet. Her brutal captain is rapidly going insane forcing Hornblower to take action that threatens not only his naval career but his life as well.