The 26th Richard Bolitho adventure. It is 1818, and our hero finds himself escorting a French frigate in North Africa. Unsettled by the close proximity of their former enemy, Bolitho and his crew discover that the comradeship of the sea is more powerful than memories of past conflict Onward, a new 38-gun frigate whose first mission is not war but diplomacy, as consort to the French frigate Nautilus. Under the burning sun of North Africa, Bolitho is keenly aware of the envy and ambition among his officers, the troubled, restless spirits of his midshipmen, and the old enemy's proximity.
