This book is a compendium of 2 individual novels by Alexander Kent:
- Richard Bolitho-Midshipman - first published 1975.
- Midshipman Bolitho & the Avenger - first published 1978
The year is 1772, and Richard Bolitho is a sixteen-year-old midshipman about to undergo a severe initiation into the game of seamanship. The book follows young Bolitho's adventures as he intercepts and destroys a band of vicious pirates and then is swept away on a dangerous mission through the treacherous stamping ground of smugglers, wreckers, and murderers.