[Aubrey & Maturin 04] • The Mauritius Command

In The Mauritius Command , Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half-pay without a command until his friend, surgeon and secret agent Stephen Maturin arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope, under a commodore’s pennant. But the difficulties of carrying out his orders are compounded by two of his own captains — one a pleasure-seeking dilettante, the other liable to provoke the crew to mutiny.

Based on the actual campaign of 1810 in the Indian Ocean, O’Brian’s attention to detail of life ashore and at sea is meticulous. This tale is as beautifully written and as gripping as any in the series; it also stands on its own as a superlative work of fiction.