Heart of Oak (Book 27). Alexander Kent. ISBN:9780099484264

A new novel from the greatest living writer of naval fiction. February 1818. Adam Bolitho dreams of marriage and a calm family life. But he knows that, given all the problems the British navy has, he was lucky to be able to take the warship. Ahead is a new 38-gun frigate, whose first mission is not war, but diplomacy. This is the convoy ship of the French frigate Nautilus. Under the scorching sun of North Africa, Bolitho notices especially clearly the envy and ambition of his officers, the unbalanced, restless spirit of his midshipmen and the proximity of an old enemy. It is only when the Nautilus is sacrificed on the altar of empire that each of them realizes that the superiority of the sea is stronger than the bitter memories of spilled blood and decades of war.