Patrick O'Brian

Jack Aubrey returns from his duties protecting whalers off South America and is persuaded to make investments in the City. From there he is led into the halfworlds of the London criminal underground and of government espionage.

As 'The Thirteen-Gun Salute' opens Jack Aubrey has been reinstated to his command, and he and Dr Maturin are sailing on a secret mission with a hand-picked crew, most of them shipmates from the adventures and lucrative voyages of earlier years.

Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin return to the seas where they first sailed as shipmates. But Jack is now a senior Captain commanding a line-of-battle ship, and this is a longer, harder war than the dashing frigate actions of his early days.