'Ambitious, hugely enjoyable ... this lucid, passionately argued and beautifully written history ranks among the finest of recent times' -- Saul David, Sunday Times 'Padfield's latest work ... reaches heights of brilliance, combining thrilling narrative with razor-sharp insights into underlying historical trends ... a joy to read' -- BBC History Magazine 'Exceptional author ... there will not be a better book on Britain's naval campaigns' -- Oxford Times 'Excellent trilogy' -- Good Book Guide 'So much more than a book about naval encounters, offering a rich social history that shows how world power is directly related to a nation's seafaring activity ... The book concludes one of the finest naval histories I have ever read ... a must-have addition to the library of anyone serious about maritime history' -- BBC Who Do You Think You Are Magazine

Peter Padfield was born in British India but educated in England. After service as a navigating officer in P&O liners to India and Australia, he sailed in the replica seventeenth-century bark, Mayflower II, on her recreation of the Pilgrim Fathers' voyage. Subsequently he worked a passage to the Pacific and sailed local craft in the Solomon Islands. He has since made his name as a naval historian. The second volume of this present trilogy earned him the Mountbatten Maritime Prize.