“If Jane Austen had written rousing sea yarns, she would have produced something very close to the prose of Patrick O'Brian.” —Time It’s 1802. The Treat

Set sail for the read of your life! Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written.

"The finest writer of sea-stories in the English language."--J. de Courcy Ireland

Stephen Maturin brings Captain Jack Aubrey secret orders to lead an expedition against the French islands of Mauritius and La Reunion, but the conduct of two of

"Few, very few books have made my heart thud with excitement. H.M.S. Surprise managed it." —Helen Lucy Burke, Irish Press In H.M.S. Surprise, British naval of