Publisher's Synopsis
"Nelson now sails honorably with the squadron of naval fiction scribes currently led by Patrick O'Brian... His pacing is brisk and the salt air blows through every chapter."-ROLAND GREEN, BOOKLIST It's the winter of 1776, a year that brings with it a fiery new spirit of colonial independence. A decade of simmering tensions has finally come to a boil, and the rebel government in Philadelphia, determined to cast off the chains of British tyranny, has authorised the creation of the United States Navy. The brig-of-war CHARLEMAGNE, under Captain Isaac Biddlecomb, sets sail on a daring mission to raid the British store of arms on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. But even as the captain takes the lead in the first amphibious assault in American naval history, he discovers that his greatest enemy is an undisciplined crew led to the brink of mutiny. Beset by treachery and betrayal, in danger of losing his command and his ship, Biddlecomb must find a way to unite his men against a cruel and common foe...
