This is the first of a series of stories based on the fictional life of Michael Orrick North, one of King George III's most successful sailors. It is 1799 and Britain is at war with France. A few days after Napoleon takes over the government in Paris by force, Michael North can be found as the First Lieutenant of the frigate Phoenix in the Bay of Biscay. After a battle and the capture of a French frigate, North returns to London and becomes entangled in a conspiracy involving rival fur trading companies in Canada to assist an invasion by the French. Promoted to post captain and given command...