An epic story of nautical adventure and a battle for freedom by the master of adventure fiction.
1774: Rob Courtney is growing up in Fort Auspice, Nativity Bay, a trading outpost on the east coast of Africa, and has always dreamed of going to sea. When his grandfather Jim Courtney dies and the mysterious Captain Marston calls into the fort, Rob's passion is ignited, and he stows away on Marston's ship as it sails to England.
Arriving in London, Rob is seduced by its charms and makes friends with a group of fast-living men and ends up in terrible debt. Desperate and penniless, Rob can see no way out. That is until the navy comes calling. Rob enlists and is taken downriver to join a ship ready to cross the Atlantic and join the growing war against the rebellious American colonists.