Alexander Kent Novels

1774 ... Richard Bolitho is a newly appointed third lieutenant joining the 28-gun frigate Destiny at Plymouth. It is a far step from midshipman's berth to wardroom – and at a time when most of the fleet is laid up Bolitho is considered fortunate. Despatched on a secret mission far south to Rio and then to the Caribbean, Destiny and her company face the hazards of conspiracy, treason and piracy — and, as the little ship sails on, Bolitho has to learn amid broadside battles at sea and the clash of swords in hand-to-hand actions, how to accept his new responsibilities as a King's officer.

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1777 ... The revolution in America has erupted into a full-scale war. Richard Bolitho is a young lieutenant aboard Trojan, an eighty-gun ship of the line. The navy's main task is to prevent military supplies from reaching Washington's armies and to destroy the fast-growing fleet of French and American privateers. At a time of shortages and sudden death even a lieutenant can find himself faced with major tasks and decisions. As the Trojan goes about her affairs the threat to Bolitho and his companions makes itself felt from New York to the Caribbean.

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Spring 1778 ... The year marks a complete transformation for Richard Bolitho and his future in the Royal Navy. It is the year that the American War of Independence changes to an all-out struggle against British rule – and the year when he takes command of Sparrow, a fast, well-armed sloop of war.
As the pace of war increases, the Sparrow is called from one crisis to another; and when the great fleets of Britain and France converge on the Chesapeake, Bolitho must be ready to come of age in a sea battle that will decide the fate of a whole continent.

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