It is 1803 and Napoleon has started anther war. The British Navy has not been kept fit and fully manned. Vice-Admiral Richard Bolithio is sent off to the Mediterranean to find the French fleet and destroy it. On the way, his Flag Captain Keen rescues a young woman being beaten on a convict ship and brings her back to the HMS Argenaute. When Bolithio's enemies discover he has supported Keen's rescue of the girl, they try to have him court martialed just when the French Fleet surprise the English convoy. Needless to say Bolithio triamphs but not before many men on both sides suffer cruel deaths or maiming. The descriptions of the battles are vivid and graphic with little left to the imagination.

First class descriptions of life on a British Man O' War during the Napoleonic War period. ( )

The grim reality of war at close quarters confronts Bolitho and he will be called upon to anticipate the strategies of the French fleet. But the conflict has also taken on a personal note - the vendetta between Bolitho and the French Admiral, Jobert, who once commanded the "Argonaute".