Publisher's Synopsis
Hornblower's reconnaissance mission quickly turns to warfare in this installment of the beloved series of naval adventures by C. S. Forester, "a master of the genre" (New York Times).
All the while, the introspective young commander struggles to understand his new bride and mother-in-law, his officers and crew, and his own "accursed unhappy temperament" -- matters that trouble him more, perhaps, than any of Bonaparte's cannonballs.
