Three novels in one! Sixteen-year-old Richard Bolitho joins the British Royal Navy as a young midshipman. Follow his adventures as he undergoes a severe initiation into the dangerous world of the great sailing warships.

1. Richard Bolitho: Midshipman 1772: A young Richard Bolitho joins the 74-gun Gorgon. Naive and untested, Bolitho must learn the ways of the navy quickly if he is to survive.

2. Midshipman Bolitho and the Avenger 1773:

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Captain Adam Bolitho, of the 74-gun Athena, sails to the West Indies as flag-captain to Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Bethune, who had been a friend of Adam's uncle, Richard. In the torrid waters of the Caribbean, they take on a renegade foe that knows no honor, offers no quarter, and traffics in human life.--Publisher description

After the war with France has ended in 1818, Captain Adam Bolitho is given command of the newly commissioned frigate Onward and sent to North Africa on a diplomatic mission to accompany the French frigate Nautilus in a show of solidarity. He knows he is lucky-the voyage should be easy; but Adam longs for a chance to marry the beautiful Lowenna and settle down on the Bolitho estate in Cornwall. Instead he must deal with the envy and ambition of his...

"October 1789, and war clouds thunder over Europe when Richard Bolitho steers the Tempest into the perilous waters of the Great South Sea. His mission: to protect vulnerable English shipping lanes from her seagoing enemies."--Cover

Spring 1802, and the Peace Treaty of Amiens, signed only a few weeks earlier, is already showing signs of collapse. Britain and France wrangle over the return of colonial possessions won and lost during their long, bloody war and in the little 64-gun Achates, Vice-Admiral Richard Bolitho sails for America and the Caribbean.

As the American Revolution rages on the mainland, the British Navy prepares for action at sea. Against a growing fleet of American and French privateers, the Navy must maintain its blockade of Washington's vital military supplies. Richard Bolitho has to make momentous decisions.

The year is 1793, and England is once again at war. For Richard Bolitho, the renewal of hostilities with France means a fresh command and the chance for action after months of inactivity.

April 1797, Falmouth Bay. As France continues her bitter struggle for supremacy on land and sea, the Royal Navy receives a crippling blow at home: the Great Mutiny. Returning home after eighteen-months' service, Flag Captain Richard Bolitho finds himself at the center of the crisis.

February 1813: As American privateers pick off British and Canadian ships in the wake of the War of 1812, Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho returns to Halifax to defend Crown property. In the cold waters off Nova Scotia, he fights fruitless skirmishes with men of the frontier, all the while longing for peace.

War with Britain's former colony looms on the horizon, and Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho must lead a squadron against the powerful new ships of the United States navy. Supported by his loyal crew, Bolitho must use all his ingenuity to defeat one of America's great naval commanders, Nathan Beer.