Fast-paced, compelling and meticulously researched, this saga of American, Irish, British and Australian history is the first full telling of the voyage of the Catalpa. Setting out from New Bedford Mass., on April 29, 1875, the American whaling ship undertook a secret year-long mission of international rescue. American captain George Anthony risked his career - and his life - to liberate a group of Irishmen known as 'The Freemantle Six' from an Australian prison. They had been soldiers in the British army and each had taken the secret Fenian oath to fight for Irish independence. The Freemantle Six overcame British armed vessels and furious sea storms to make their miraculous escape with Anthony.The rescue was made without a chronometer and is considered a remarkable feat of navigation, as well as being a legendary symbol of defiance against British imperial authority.