In 1814, Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho returns from the North American coast as news arrives of Napoleon’s defeat and abdication. He expects the end of European war to offer retirement and a future with Catherine, but the Admiralty immediately sends him to Malta.
The Mediterranean appointment places Bolitho between exhausted allies, political suspicion and the possibility that Napoleon’s removal will not last. As duty again separates him from the life he wants, he must decide how much honour requires when the institution he serves continues to exploit his loyalty.
The Mediterranean remains strategically unstable despite Napoleon’s abdication. Malta sits at the centre of British communications and naval influence, while officers and local powers cannot know whether the European settlement will endure. Bolitho’s appointment therefore reflects the difficulty of converting wartime command into peacetime authority when the institutions built for conflict are not yet ready to stand down.
Patrick O’Brian
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David Donachie
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