Having acquired his first command in a little brig-sloop, Thomas Kydd races the clock to prepare the ship for a battle against Barbary pirates, an effort that stops abruptly when peace is declared, forcing Kydd to take a job as captain of a convict ship transporting criminals to Australia.

Kydd and fellow novice sailor Nicholas Renzi leave the lumbering Duke William for the sleek frigate Artemis and promptly find themselves in cutthroat battle again, overmatched against the French frigate Citoyenne. The face-off ends in hand-to-hand combat and a hard-won victory for the men of the Artemis, but an act of desertion threatens both the valued friendship of Renzi and Kydd and their futures with the Artemis.

Who will steal the greatest prize of Empire? South America's Spanish colonies are in a ferment of popular unrest. Rumors of a treasure hoard of Spanish silver spur Thomas Kydd's commander-in-chief, Commodore Popham, to assemble a makeshift invasion fleet and launch a bold attack on Buenos Aires. The British invasion force wins a battle against improbable odds, but soon finds itself surrounded by a hostile population. Now Kydd's men must face resistance...

In the 10th book of the popular series, rumors fly of Napoleon's planned invasion of England, and British naval commander Thomas Kydd is sent to liaise with American inventor, Robert Fulton, who has created "infernal machines" that can wreak mass destruction from a distance. Fulton believes that his inventions, namely the submarine and torpedo, will win the day for the power that possesses them, and Kydd must help him develop the devices. Despite...

November 1807. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd must sail to Lisbon to aid the Portuguese Royal Family's evacuation in the face of Napoleon's ruthless advance through Iberia. In the chaos of the threatened city an old passion is reawakened when he meets Persephone Lockwood, a beautiful and determined admiral's daughter from his past. But the Royal Family's destination is Brazil, Perspehone's England, and it seems Kydd's chance has gone again. Only later...

The 9th book of the series finds Kydd framed and dismissed from his ships, his fiancee dead and his honor in shambles. He and Renzi struggle to survive as Renzi accepts employment from a mysterious nobleman and Kydd seizes one final chance for revenge and restoration.

1812. Arriving back in England after his successes in the Adriatic, Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is bestowed with honours. In London he's greeted by the Prince Regent who, despite Kydd's protestations that he's happy with his present command, insists he be given a bigger ship - HMS Thunderer, a 74-gun ship of the line. But she's old, and being part of a standing fleet Kydd's chances of further fame and distinction are slim indeed.