Kydd novels

The year is 1793 and Europe is ablaze with war…Thomas Kydd, a young wig-maker from Guildford, is seized by the press gang, to be a part of the crew of the battle ship Royal William. The ship sails immediately and Kydd has to learn the harsh realities of shipboard life fast. Despite all that he goes through, he comes to admire the skills and courage of the seamen - taking up the challenge himself to become a true sailor.

It is two years since Thomas Kydd was spirited away in the night aboard the old ship Duke William. Now, he and the other members of the ill-fated Artemis are shipwrecked sailors, back in London to be summoned as court martial witnesses. Then, in a political act to shield an officer's reputation, they are shipped out in haste to the Caribbean - where sugar is king and yellow jack a fearsome peril.

Thomas Kydd's ship, part of a makeship fleet from South Africa under Commodore Home Popham, invades Buenos Aires in hopes of a treasure of silver, only to find the local population, instead of rising against the Spanish, uniting against them.

"Word has come from the British ambassador Arbuthnot that the neutral Turks are being wooed by the French and if the ancient city of Constantinople falls into their hands, Napoleon's route to India will be completely unfettered and his plans for world domination a reality. Concerned for his safety, Arbuthnot is demanding a large fleet presence to take him off and bring the Turks to their senses. Braving treacherous currents, unreliable winds, and...

Captain Sir Thomas Kydd's famous sea action aboard Tyger in the Baltic has snatched his reputation from ignominy. He is the hero of the hour. But though Britain's Navy remains imperious at sea, a successsion of battles has seen Napoleon Bonaparte victorious on mainland Europe. Only the neutral state of Denmark, which controls the straits through which the entire Baltic Trade passes, remains free of French control, and the French army are already mustering...

1808. Parted from his new bride, Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is called away to join the Northern Expedition to Sweden, now Britain's only ally in the Baltic. Following the sudden declaration of war by Russia and with the consequent threat of the czar's great fleet in St Petersburg, the expedition must defend Britain's dearly-won freedom in those waters. However Kydd finds his popular fame as a frigate captain is a poisoned chalice; in the face of jealousy...

1809. After his heroic actions during the retreat to Corunna, Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is the toast of London society. Here he falls in with the legendary frigate captain, Lord Thomas Cochrane. So begins a relationship, professional and personal, that will be unlike any that Kydd has known: a relationship that will lead him, almost simultaneously, to first glory, then ruin. The French fleet is massing in the Basque Roads in a near impregnatable position....

1811. The Adriatic, the 'French Lake', is now the most valuable territory Napoleon Bonaparte possesses. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd finds his glorious return to England cut short when the Admiralty summons him to lead a squadron of frigates into these waters to cause havoc and distress to the enemy. Kydd is dubbed 'The Sea Devil' by Bonaparte who personally appoints one of his favourites, Dubourdieu, along with a fleet that greatly outweighs the British,...

"1812. Off the coast of Brazil, HMS Java, a proud British 38-gun frigate, is captured in battle by the American USS Constitution - signaling across the world's oceans a challenge to Britain's naval premiership that cannot be ignored. Back in EnglandCaptainSir Thomas Kydd is enjoying a moment of normal life with his wife and his newborn son. With his Thunderer in dock receiving some well-earned repairs he is, momentarily, without a command. It's a...