The Sentinels

When John Spencer's parents die his uncle packs John off into the Royal Navy as a Gentleman Volunteer. His ship, HMS Sentinel is bound for the worst service in the Navy, the West African Squadron, the anti-slavery patrol. Torn by civil war and shattered by the impact of fire-power, the tribal organisation of West Africa is breaking down.. The once powerful Kindom of Old Oyo (in present day Nigeria) is open to invasion by war-parties hunting for slaves. One man taken as a slave is Lyapo, a farmer...Chained, desperate, separated from his wife and children, Lyapo is passed from trader to trader until he is bought by the ruthless American, Kimber, master of the slave-ship Phantom. Bound for the plantations of America, Lyapo now faces the hazards of the high seas where, when Sentinel and Phantom meet, he finds himself joining John Spencer in a desperate struggle for survival.