Introduction by Alexander Kent
An anthology of seafaring stories, about the age of tall ships and canon fire, when the seamanship and derring-do of British sailors was shown time and again aboard the great ships that sailed for trade, discovery or warfare. Included are tales of storms and shipwrecks, the great sea battles of the Napoleonic era and the sheer, dangerous excitement of life before the mast. Writers of this anthology include Patrick O'Brian, Kenneth Bulmer, Richard Butler, C.S. Forester, Showell Styles, Herman Melville, Cutcliffe Hyne and Harriet Hudson.
Contents:
- The Steeple Rock by Richard Woodman
- Siege of Toulon [from Path to Glory] by Showell Styles
- Billy Budd by Herman Melville
- The Rescue [from Siege as Adam Hardy] by Kenneth Bulmer
- A Midshipman at Copenhagen by John Finlayson
- The Battle of Elephant Bay by Richard Butler
- The China Fleet [from HMS Surprise] by Patrick O'Brian
- The Enemy Within by Jane Jackson
- The Victory by John Frizell
- A Murderous Conflict [from Mr. Midshipman Easy] by Frederick Marryat
- Hornblower's Charitable Offering by C. S. Forester
- The Escape Agents by C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne
- The Commander's Wife by Harriet Hudson
- Davy Jones and the Yankee Privateer [from ‘Tom Cringle's Log'] by Michael Scott
- The Nantucket Sleigh-Ride by Peter Garratt
- Dawn's Early Light by Kenneth B. Atkinson
- The Last Battle by Walter Wood
- The Stolen Command by Walter Jon Williams