Balkan Glory

Napoleon now holds the Adriatic, a sea he regards as his own private lake and the most prized region under his control. Just as Captain Sir Thomas Kydd believes he has earned a well-deserved homecoming to England, the Admiralty orders him back to sea at the head of a squadron of frigates. His task is to strike at French shipping in those waters and unsettle the enemy. Napoleon, who has taken to calling Kydd a sea devil, hands the job of hunting him down to Dubourdieu, one of his favoured officers, and sends him a fleet far larger than anything the British can field.

Meanwhile, Nicholas Renzi travels to Austria on a clandestine errand, tasked with probing the cunning statesman Count Metternich. That encounter exposes a dangerous scheme of Napoleon's that could upset the delicate political order across Europe. Only a decisive blow at sea can halt it, and Renzi must find a way over the Alps to the Adriatic in order to reach Kydd in person.

The novel builds toward a major naval battle, with everything at stake. Kydd meets Dubourdieu against overwhelming odds. The question at its heart is whether he can thwart Napoleon's ambition to break out of Europe and push on toward India and Asia.