The year is 1793 and James Abel Merriman has been sent to the West Indies as Captain of his Majesty's sloop Aphrodite.
England's oldest enemy France, now under the control of Napoleon Bonaparte is in the throes of the revolution and also is at war with Austria and the Netherlands. At this point in history, February 1793, France declares war on England.
In the West Indies many of the islands have been fought over by the British, the French and the Spanish and at the time of this book, the principal islands of St. Lucia, Martinique and Guadeloupe are still in French hands although in 1794 many French claimed islands had been retaken by British Forces.