One of history's most notorious naval insurrections is re-created, as Kydd crosses the Mediterranean to a rendezvous with danger and returns to England—only to find himself caught up in the Nore Mutiny. Kydd is a loyal servant of the King, and he is expected to side with Naval authority against h...
Kydd must pass a tough examination for his lieutenancy, but aboard the 64-gun Tenacious he faces a more daunting challenge—matching up to the high-born officers, who have spent a lifetime learning to be gentlemen. When Tenacious reaches the colonies, Kydd is caught up in the intrigue surrounding ...
In this seventh book of the series, Thomas Kydd is master of his own brig-sloop Teazer and he must race the clock to make her battle-ready to defend Malta against Barbary pirates and the French, who are frantically trying to rescue the remnants of their army in the Levant. Suddenly, peace is decl...
This book finds Thomas Kydd aboard Tenacious, part of a small squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson. Its mission is to scour the Mediterranean and locate Napoleon and his army. Kydd's newly fired ambition leads him to volunteer for shore service in the capture of Minorca. Later, he fa...
With Kydd, Julian Stockwin introduced us to a young wig-maker from Guildford who was kidnapped and pressed into duty with the tempestuous crew of the Duke William battle ship. Now, Thomas Paine Kydd is back -- with a vengeance -- in the latest installment of Stockwin's thrilling naval adventure s...
Even the swish and slop of the men swabbing the deck did not intrude. The easy, domestic sounds in the cool of the early morning were balm to his troubled soul. The quality of the dawn light on the anchored ship was of a gossamer hesitancy, a soft emerging of colour through grey; the tropical sea...
Time was ticking by: if he failed to come up with some public gesture of repudiation of the article he’d be damned for a Popham admirer. But by evening he’d reached the conclusion that there was no chance of a resolution. He retired to bed with the forlorn hope that it would blow over in time and...
Piped aboard through the entry-port to the middle gun-deck of Prince of Wales, Kydd could see the flagship was in an advanced state of readiness. Were they expecting trouble this early? There was a welcome on the crowded quarterdeck: Gambier and no less than four other flag officers. Kydd paid hi...
Because of the gravity of the situation Renzi had overcome his scruples and resolved to warn Kydd of the ugly mood that was building, the savage opinions he had overheard and in charity forewarning him of worse to come. He had to make one last try to get through to Kydd. He entered the cabin afte...
‘Mi flor – mi bella flor!’ he called out. Rafaela opened the door and squealed with delight. Throwing her arms around his neck, she kissed him with a passion that melted his terror and confusion. ‘Alma mia, mi corazón,’ she sobbed, caressing his matted hair. Once inside, she held him at arm’s len...
A bare hour ago he had been an ordinary seaman in the old line-of-battle ship Duke William. Now, somewhere off the enemy coast of Revolutionary France, he was gazing back at her from a crack frigate as an able seaman, a replacement for prize crew. A hand lifted in farewell in the boat pulling bac...
He was fussed over by a possessive Jago, who took it upon himself to keep the heathen Turkish servants at bay. In the warm light of the oil-lamps Zorlu sat decorously opposite—they would talk together only after they were left alone. Renzi was under no delusions: Selim was using him. The shrewd s...
“It’s over,” he said, in a low voice. “I’ll never see Nautilus swim in my lifetime.” Kydd moved his chair closer. “How can you say that, Toot? The committee haven’t given it enough thought, is all.” “So who will bring ’em to their senses? Gresham is...
The icy grip of the chains broke through Nicander’s paralysis of unreality. The guttering light of an oil lamp illuminated instruments of pain and the merciless face of the torturer.Excubitor Marcellus waited impatiently for the soldiers to leave then crossed to them. ‘Now, I’ve not much time to ...
The river lay to their left, an easy signpost to the plaza they had left just days before. There were no more Bourbon lilies on display, no more white banners. Instead, the flag of revolution hung everywhere around them.The town was silent, a curfew obviously in force. They removed their shoes an...
On her pristine quarterdeck Commander Kydd took position, legs braced astride, trying not to notice the promenaders gathered to watch a King’s ship outward bound to war. Everything about the morning was perfection; the deep colours of sky and sea, the verdancy of the count...
Not one or two but four prizes followed in her wake at regularly spaced intervals, each with the ensign of the Royal Navy above that of the vanquished. They weren’t the largest or most spectacular ever seen, and one in the amount of salvage only, but Kydd was confident it would put the admiral in...
But the sea is not an agent of revenge, nor is it cruel; it is indifferent, an elemental, primal force. The seaman turned novelist Joseph Conrad once said, ‘If you want to know the age of the earth, look upon the sea in a storm.’ And the poet Lord Byron described the sea as ‘dark-heaving, boundle...