The very first of the wildly (and deservedly!) popular ocean-going novels of Aubrey and Maturin. It sets Captain Jack and his surgeon/naturalist/spy sidekick Stephen Maturin against an impressively researched backdrop of the Napoleonic wars. This first volume takes place in O'Brian's backyard in the Western Mediterranean with significant action taking place at Minorca, Palermo and Gibraltar.  (MED27, $13.95)