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by Richard Woodman (Author)
From the tide-torn waters of the Thames, where Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater is compelled to handle a deserter, to the seas off Cape Horn, storm-scoured gateway to the Pacific, the great cruiser Patrician is tense with the threat of mutiny. Despite this, Drinkwater captures a Spanish frigate and meets the stunning Doña Ana Maria, daughter of the Commandante of San Francisco. But having disturbed a hornet's nest of colonial intrigue, Drinkwater finds that the Spanish are eager to humiliate him and the Royal Navy. Moreover, a Russian battleship lurks somewhere offshore, pursuing Tsar Alexander's dark plans. Caught between two formidable enemies, Drinkwater's mission is made impossible by treachery.
But chance brings the aid of Doña Ana Maria and a mysterious mountain man. In the distant waters of this beautiful and remote region, Drinkwater struggles to carry out his mission and is struck with the most extraordinary twist of fortune in his eventful life.Author Biography
Captain Richard Martin Woodman retired in 1997 from a 37-year nautical career. Woodman's Nathaniel Drinkwater series is often compared to the work of the late Patrick O'Brian. Woodman is the author of some two dozen nautical novels, as well as several nonfiction books. Unlike many other modern naval historical novelists, such as C.S. Forester or O'Brian, he has served afloat. He went to sea at the age of sixteen as an indentured midshipman and spent eleven years in command. His experience ranges from cargo-liners to ocean weather ships and specialist support vessels to yachts, square-riggers, and trawlers. Said Lloyd's List of his work: "As always, Richard Woodman's story is closely based on actual historical events. All this we have come to expect--and he adds that special ambience of colourful credibility which makes his nautical novels such rattling good reads."
