Killigrew of the Royal Navy

In 1847 Lieutenant Kit Killigrew joins the Royal Navy’s campaign against the illegal Atlantic slave trade. With support from Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Napier, he enters the trading networks of West Africa to identify a major slave market and expose a British investor whose money protects the traffic.

The mission requires Killigrew to pass among merchants and slavers while remaining responsible for his ship and crew. His earlier service in Syria and China has prepared him for combat, but suppression work confronts him with the corruption, commercial interests and political compromises that allow the trade to continue decades after British abolition.