1774. Aboard the 28-gun Destiny, Bolitho, now a third lieutenant, deals with piracy, conspiracy, and treason in the Caribbean.

As the American Revolution rages on the mainland, the British Navy prepares for action at sea. Against a growing fleet of American and French privateers, the navy must maintain its blockade of Washington's vital military supplies. Caught up in the turmoil, junior officer Richard Bolitho finds himself having to make momentous decisions in the heat of battle--decisions that could affect the lives of many men and, perhaps, even the fate of nations.

The American Revolution has turned the Atlantic coast into a refuge for privateers and marauding French warships. Young Bolitho must fight the colonial rebels, stave off the treachery of a beautiful woman, and overcome the dangerous incompetence of a senior officer before it is too late.

Portsmouth 1782. Now captain of the frigate Phalarope Bolitho deals with a mutinous crew and fights in the Battle of Saintes.

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

Bolitho steers the Tempest into the Great South Sea to protect English shipping lanes. He must face pirates and savage islanders. But he is menaced, too, by deeper fears--the men of the Bounty have mutinied in these same waters, and from distant France comes news of a revolution.

The year is 1793, and England is once again at war. For Richard Bolitho, the renewal of hostilities with France means a fresh command and the chance for action after months of inactivity.

The Hyperion sets sail with an untrained crew for blockade duty off France. Bolitho's superior is an incompetant egotist whose petty hostilities jeopardize the operation of an entire fleet.

Brutal smugglers, many of them naval deserters, occupy the Channel, plying their trade between England and France. This story describes Richard Bolitho's mission: to take three speedy top sail cutters and fight the treacherous raiders off the coast of Kent.

April 1797, Falmouth Bay. As France continues her bitter struggle for supremacy on land and sea, the Royal Navy received a crippling blow at home: the Great Mutiny.