This sixteenth volume in the acclaimed Aubrey-Maturin series, a brilliantly detailed narrative, became Patrick O'Brian's first bestseller in the United States.

At the outset of this adventure filled with disaster and delight, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin pursue a heavy American privateer through the Great South Sea. Their ship, the Surprise, is now also a privateer, the better to escape diplomatic complications from Maturin's mission, which is to ignite the revolutionary tinder of South America. Aubrey will survive a desperate open-boat journey and come face to face with his illegitimate black son; Maturin, caught up in the aftermath of his failed coup, will flee for his life into the high, frozen wastes of the Andes. They will be reunited at last in a breathtaking chase through the stormy seas and icebergs south of Cape Horn—where the hunters suddenly become the hunted.