England, Home and . . .Nick Turnhouse is captain of his own sloop, and increasingly aware of how rapidly he has been promoted and how much he does not know. He is reliant on the professional skill and goodwill of Master and Boatswain, both of whom are long experienced and old, coming close to the end of their seagoing days.Returning from a convoy north to Halifax, Nick discovers a new admiral in command at English Harbor. His patron has returned to England ...

Poor, mad, puzzled Farmer George is in his final decline and an Age is dying with him. He is to be succeeded by his perverse, erratic, deluded elder son, who believes still in the Divine Right of Kings, not appreciating that any respectable god would turn his face away from him.The country is in turmoil, everything changing since the long wars ended. Only the Land seems still to be the same.Major Nathaniel Perry, Lord Palfrey, believes even the fields of old Dorset must suc...

The Navy has its new submarines and must discover what to do with them. They cannot fall back upon Nelson as a precedent, and Their Lordships of the Admiralty are at a loss to create a strategy.Gilbert Maltravers is given a new E Class boat and sent off to the Mediterranean, in the hope that the Admiral Commanding there will find something useful for him to do. He leaves his new wife behind and sails off to do his duty, hoping that somebody will know what his duty should be.

Captain Nicholas Turnhouse—Bloody Nick—takes his new experimental Amphion-class heavy frigate out to the Mediterranean to join the command of Old Jervie, Lord St Vincent, immediately after the Battle of the Nile.His ship is new and powerful . . . and sails like a pig. He must make the best of it under the command of the harshest, but possibly fairest, taskmaster in the Navy.There are still a few rich prizes left, and any number of belligerent French and Spanish ships of war...

Bloody Nick returns from the Mediterranean tired—he has done too much, seen too much, and needs rest at home. His ship, HBMS Hawke, needs time in the yard. A year of half-pay leaves Nick rested and anxious to get back to sea. He is close to the top of the Captain's List and automatic promotion to Rear Admiral must be due in two to four years—the actual date varying at the Admiralty's convenience. Captains sitting at home without a command are more likely to be yellowed, made witho...

Winner of Amazon KDP Select All StarsNick Turnhouse knows how lucky he has been, and has little choice other than to ride the wave of his good fortune, regardless of where it may take him. He has made himself into Bloody Nick and must continue to take risks and hope to survive them if he is to make his fortune at sea.His orders base him on Gibraltar, part of a small squadron commanded by a new rear admiral who comes to value him and acts as his pat...

The Royal Navy is larger than it has ever been—nearly eight hundred ships and one hundred and twenty thousand men—and it is too small for the tasks demanded of it if the war is to be won.British hardwood forests have been destroyed, with the exception of the untouchable New Forest. It is impossible to build enough ships to make up for losses, let alone to expand. At least twenty of the ships at sea are unfit for service, may well sink in the next storm.The sole answer is to...

The Depression is over and fears of revolution have subsided, but there is still resentment over the previous year’s hangings. Robert is carrying out some very controversial actions on behalf of the government under cover of his bank’s business in America. Mad King George finally dies and a new reign appears to offer the possibility of change, but the realities of political and economic existence remain unaltered. William Rumpage rises in the world, to his own, and his wife’s trepidation. ...

From the barren rocks of Aden to the west coast of Ireland, the war under the sea is subverting the certainties of the Victorian Navy. While the dreadnoughts hide away at Scapa Flow and Kiel, the submarines and small ships of both sides are taking the war to the enemy coast. The Royal Navy is at war with itself and, as in any civil war, the conflict is merciless.Gilbert Maltravers takes his tiny E Class boat to war against both navies in this final book of the trilogy.

Captain Nathaniel Perry has survived the Battle of Waterloo with some slight distinction, and finds himself respected in his fashionable mess on the regiment's return to England. That is a problem, for he has no private income. He had managed well enough on his pay on campaign, but could not do so in the Peace.Simultaneously with his promotion to major in acknowledgement of his actions at the Battle, he is called to London at the behest of a dying grandfather, a merchant who had di...

War is coming to Europe. After a century of peace, the drums are beating again and the young man may seek honor and glory in service of his King and country.General Griffin's sons welcome the chance to leave the tedium of Oxford to pursue a manly existence for a few months—not for too long, the war will be over by Christmas.Two are regulars, the other three join as second lieutenants, using their father's influence to cross the Channel with the very first of the British Exp...

For more than forty years Nicholas Brooks has been at the forefront of research into early medieval Britain. In order to honour the achievements of one of the leading figures in Anglo-Saxon studies, this volume brings together essays by an internationally renowned group of scholars on four themes that the honorand has made his own: myths, rulership, church and charters. Myth and rulership are addressed in articles on the early history of Wessex, Æthelflæd of Mercia and the battle of Brun...