Richard Woodman – författare

Nathaniel Drinkwater''s life at sea begins with the HMS Cyclops'' capture of the Santa Teresa during Admiral Rodney''s dramatic Moonlight Battle of 1780. Drinkwater''s courage and initiative are put to the test as the Cyclops pursues American privateers threatening British trade and he is later dispatched to the swamps of South Carolina, where many lives are lost both at sea and ashore. Gradually, Drinkwater matures into a capable and self-assured sailor. As he contends with enemy forces, the tyranny of the Cyclops''s midshipman, and the stark contrast between the comfort of home life and the brutality of naval service, he finds strength and sustenance in the love of his beloved Elizabeth.

It is 1792, and Nathaniel Drinkwater is back in the Royal Navy, this time appointed to the twelve-gun cutter Kestrel, commanded by the inscrutable Madoc Griffiths. With the gathering menace of the French Revolution, he is involved in secret and dangerous operations off the French Coast, including the rescue of émigrés and the landing of agents. As Europe plunges deeper into war, Kestrel takes part in the struggle for supremacy in the Channel and Drinkwater has some sinister encounters with Edouard Santhonax, a man who is stirring up interest with British government agents. Fate will bring the two men together, but only one can triumph.

Nathaniel Drinkwater is promoted lieutenant of the brig Hellebore, and routine convoy escort duties end abruptly when Admiral Nelson, pursuing the French fleet to Egypt, sends Hellebore to the Red Sea with an urgent warning to the British squadron there. However, Nelson''s apprehensions over French ambitions in the East are more than justified. Edouard Santhonax, Drinkwater''s old enemy, is already preparing for a French descent on India. The hunt for this elusive Frenchman and his frigate combine with British naval operations on the flank of Napoleon''s Egyptian campaign. The attack on Kosseir spells near-fatal danger for the hero, and Drinkwater is left for dead, with victory over Santhonax a distant hope.

It is 1801. Napoleon is reaching supreme power in France and has allied himself with Tsar Paul of Russia. Young captain Nathaniel Drinkwater is given command of an old ship, the Virago, to be sent to the Baltic as a bomb vessel. Drinkwater''s ambition is to turn it back into a fighting ship, but his plans are thwarted. At the same time, Drinkwater''s brother appeals for help in his desperate attempt to escape the gallows. As Sir Hyde Parker''s fleet approaches the Danish coast, the Virago joins the battle. Amid gales and ice, Drinkwater strives to save his ship and his brother. But personal aims meet international war as, against the hazardous backdrop of Napoleon''s onward march, Drinkwater''s actions in the complex and bloody battle of Copenhagen become crucial.

The frozen splendour of the Arctic Ocean and the absorbing drama of a nineteenth-century whale hunt unfold in The Corvette. Rewarded by promotion for his services at the Battle of Copenhagen, Commander Drinkwater is dispatched in haste to replace the captain of the Melusine, who has been shot in a duel. The ship sails as an escort to a whaling fleet on its annual expedition to the Greenland Sea. During the whale hunt the loss of one of the vessels sets off a chain of misfortune. Disaster, death and treachery result. To repair his ship, Drinkwater seeks shelter off the Greenland coast and finds more hazards than the Arctic alone can produce, and it is here that Drinkwater makes the most difficult decision of his career.

It is the summer of 1804 and Napoleon is massing his vast army for the invasion of England. Nathaniel Drinkwater has command of HMS Antigone, and he and his men are sent to patrol the Channel coast, helping the Royal Navy maintain a blockade of the enemy''s ports. As Nelson''s and Napoleon''s mighty fleets draw closer to one another, Drinkwater is unprepared for the role that destiny deals him when he becomes a prisoner of the French and suddenly finds himself on the wrong side of the British bombardment.

Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater''s frigate, HMS Antigone, is ordered to the Baltic Sea in the spring of 1807 as Napoleon''s grip has begun to reach across Europe to the borders of Holy Russia. As country after country falls under the weight of French domination, Captain Drinkwater is faced with the challenges brought about by military disaster and diplomatic intrigue. On board the Antigone, Drinkwater is threatened by the seething discontent of his crew and the instability of his drunken first lieutenant. Drinkwater''s task is to cooperate with his country''s allies and intelligence agents. When a coded message is intercepted, his mission suddenly becomes one of extreme personal danger. As the fate of Europe is being decided, Drinkwater must carry out his mission in the face of his old enemy. This final confrontation brings him to the brink of death.

From the tide-torn waters of the Thames, where Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater is compelled to deal with a deserter, to the seas off stunning, traitorous Cape Horn - storm-scoured gateway to the Pacific - the great cruiser Patrician is tense with the threat of mutiny. Despite this, Drinkwater captures a Spanish frigate and meets the stunning Doña Ana Maria, daughter of the Commandante of San Francisco. But, having disturbed a hornet''s nest of colonial intrigue, Drinkwater finds that the Spanish are eager to humiliate him and the Royal Navy. Moreover, a Russian battleship lurks somewhere offshore, pursuing Tsar Alexander''s dark plans. Caught between two formidable enemies, Drinkwater must defeat enemies on all fronts if he is to survive - including on his own ship.

AN EYE OF THE FLEET Nathaniel Drinkwater is engaged in dramatic action off the coast of Spain in Admiral Rodney''s famous Moonlight Battle and the capture of the Santa Teresa. But his adventures also bring rebellion on board and a perilous expedition into the Carolina swamps. A KING''S CUTTER Clandestine operations off the coast of France aboard the twelve-gun cutter Kestrel involves Drinkwater in the French Revolution, rescuing refugees from Madame Guillotine and helping British agents infiltrate France. A BRIG OF WAR At the request of Nelson himself, Drinkwater is despatched to the Red Sea on an urgent mission, and he soon finds himself on a thrilling naval operation on the flank of Napoleon''s Egyptian campaign.

THE BOMB VESSEL It is 1801, and Napoleon is reaching supreme power in France and has allied himself with Tsar Paul of Russia. Drinkwater is in command of an old bomb ship, the Virago, which joins battle off the Danish coast. Amid gales and ice, Drinkwater strives to save his ship and his brother. THE CORVETTE The frozen splendour of the Arctic Ocean and the absorbing drama of a nineteenth-century whale hunt unfold in The Corvette, in which Drinkwater finds himself battling with the enemy, the elements and fiercely independent whalemasters in a three-handed struggle for mastery of icy Arctic waters. 1805 Drinkwater is sent to patrol the Channel coast, helping the Royal Navy maintain a heroic blockade of the enemy''s post, but soon his ship the Antigone is needed elsewhere as everything now hinges on the confrontation that Nelson has forced off Cape Trafalgar.

It is the summer of 1964 during the Far Eastern war euphemistically called ‘Confrontation.’ A British Royal Marine patrol has orders to penetrate Indonesian Borneo to locate a river thought by Allied intelligence to be in use by the Indonesians to build up supplies before launching a major attack on Sarawak. Charged with this mission, Lieutenant Charles Kirton makes a most extraordinary discovery amid the dense mangrove swamps bordering a river in Borneo. What he finds not only enables Kirton to fulfil his mission, but also turns out to be intensely personal and macabre as the truth behind the strange event is revealed. From this highly charged opening sequence, the story flashes back a century to 1867, when young Henry Kirton, second officer of the auxiliary steamship River Tay, is dumped ashore in Singapore, badly injured by a fall from the rigging of his ship. Woodman’s compelling tale has echoes of Joseph Conrad.