Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater brings the frigate Patrician to the Pearl River on the China coast and finds himself caught up in bizarre events.

It is 1814 and Napoleon has abdicated as Emperor of the French. King Louis XVIII is brought out of his English exile and escorted back to France by an Allied squadron commanded by the Duke of Clarence. The Great War is at en end and Europe prepares to celebrate the return of legitimate monarchy. But the victorious Allies are increasingly suspicious of one another. Alexander I, the capricious Tsar of Russia, believes he is the savior of the world, while Great Britain whose sea-power has guaranteed victory at sea and contributed to the military success of Russia, Austria and Prussia, remains at...

This title tells the epic story of Britain's merchant shipping, carrying exotic goods from all quarters of the world. At one time, British ships carried half of the world's trade. It reveals how two world wars nearly destroyed our merchant shipping, but convoys battled on to save Britain from starving to death. We see what life was like at sea for merchant seamen and get a first-hand glimpse of them at work.