Master and Commander

From back It is 1800 and up and down the Mediterranean Nelson’s captains patrol, guarding English merchantmen against the twin menaces of Napoleon’s raiders and Algerian pirates. And the proudest captain in the Navy is Jack Aubrey, newly-appointed Master and Commander of his first ship, the brig Sophie. Sophie is old, slow, too small for the guns she needs; her crew has grown soft under a captain who took no chances. But Jack will not be content until he has made her into a fighting ship – and captured the prizes that will make his fortune …