The Alexander Clay

After a century of war, revolutions, and imperial conquests, 1790s Europe is still embroiled in a battle for control of the sea and colonies. Tall ships navigate familiar and foreign waters, and ambitious young men without rank or status seek their futures in naval commands. First Lieutenant Alexander Clay of the frigate Agrius is self-made, clever, and ready for the new age. But the old world, dominated by patronage, retains a tight hold on advancement.

A Sloop of War, the second novel in the Alexander Clay series, is set on the island of Barbados, where the temperature of the politics, prejudices, and amorous ambitions are matched only by the sweltering heat of the climate.

Newly promoted to Post Captain, Alexander Clay returns home from the Caribbean to recover from wounds sustained at the Battle of San Felipe. However, he is soon called upon by the Admiralty to take command of the frigate Titan and join the blockade of the French coast. But the Titan will be no easy command with its troubled crew that had launched a successful mutiny against its previous sadistic captain.

In 1798, the British Royal Navy withdrew from the Mediterranean to combat the threat of invasion at home. In their absence, rumors abound of a French Army gathering in the south of France under General Napoleon Bonaparte, and of a large fleet gathering to transport them. Alexander Clay and his ship, Titan, are sent to the Mediterranean to investigate. Clay verifies the troubling rumors but is unable to learn where the French fleet and the army will be heading. 

Newly returned from the Battle of the Nile, Alexander Clay and the crew of the Titan are soon in action again, just when he has the strongest reason to wish to abide in England. But a powerful French naval squadron is at large in the Indian Ocean, attacking Britain’s vital East India trade. 

Freshly back from a year in the Indian Ocean, it is not long before Alexander Clay and the crew of the Titan are in action once more. This time, they are sent on a secret mission across the Channel. Amongst the forests and marshes of Southern Brittany, a Royalist rebellion is building, and the government at home is keen to support it. But as the uprising grows, Clay finds himself being drawn into a world of deception, intrigue, and treachery. 

As the long war with France enters its eighth year, there is trouble in the Baltic. Napoleon is busy recruiting new allies to cut off Britain’s vital trade in naval supplies. Captain Alexander Clay is given a new command: the Royal Navy frigate Griffin, and sent ahead of the British fleet on a vital diplomatic mission.

On a hot night in the Caribbean, a lone Royal Navy ship commanded by a sadistic captain, succumbs to bloody mutiny. With the Peace of Amiens imminent, Captain Alexander Clay and the crew of the Griffin are sent to track down and recapture the rebel ship. But when they arrive in the Leeward Islands, they find that much more is at stake. Smuggling and corruption seem to be rife in those sunlit waters, while ghosts from the past stir in the shadows. 

Spring 1803 finds Captain Alexander Clay and his crew dispersed and struggling to adjust to a life of peace at home. Meanwhile, in the wider world, Europe is sliding back towards war.

Captain Alexander Clay and the crew of the Griffin return from India after almost two years away, impatient to see loved ones at home, but fate has other ideas. In the middle of the Atlantic they cross paths with a huge Franco-Spanish fleet on its way to the Caribbean, and find themselves drawn into one of the greatest naval campaigns in history.