Kydd Sea Adventures
6 primary works • 17 total works
Book 5
'In Stockwin's hands the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world' - Guardian
Thomas Kydd was promoted to acting lieutenant at the bloody Battle of Camperdown in October 1797. Now, he must sit an examination to confirm his rank - or face an inglorious return before the mast.
But this is only the first of many obstacles for a man who was pressed into the King's Service and discovered a calling for the sea. Kydd is from humble origins, yet he attains the lofty heights of the quarterdeck as an officer in His Majesty's Navy. If he is to avoid spending the rest of his career as a tarpaulin officer, he must also become a gentleman.
Kydd and his enigmatic friend Nicholas Renzi set sail in HMS Tenacious for the North American station. Aboard the old 64-gun ship, Kydd comes to doubt he will ever match up to the high-born gentlemen officers.
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What readers are saying about QUARTERDECK
'Superb writing, superb characterisation' - 5 stars
'Excellent reading' - 5 stars
'Without question the best series I have read in years' - 5 stars
'This book is of the highest standard' - 5 stars
'A splendid story' - 5 stars
Book 8
Book 9
Book 14
'In Stockwin's hands the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world' - Guardian
More than a decade ago, Thomas Kydd and Nicholas Renzi were in the Caribbean as sailors before the mast in the old Trajan. Now Kydd, a storied hero of Trafalgar, holds the glory of being post-captain of the 32-gun frigate, L'Aurore.
After unremitting war a Caribbean posting seems a welcome respite. But Kydd and Renzi soon find themselves facing a familiar threat as the French imperil Britain's vital sugar trade.
When merchantmen begin vanishing from the sea, Kydd and Renzi must embark on a dangerous game of espionage, seamanship and breath-taking action in order to destroy a new and terrible danger to the Empire.
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What readers are saying about CARIBBEE
'A proper swashbuckling affair' - 5 stars
'Totally amazing!' - 5 stars
'Loved this book' - 5 stars
'A real find' - 5 stars
'A gripping read' - 5 stars
Book 15
An Admiralty summons to England cuts short Thomas Kydd's service in the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. While the crew of L'Aurore can look forward to liberty and prize money, a shadow hangs
over their captain: the impending court martial of his one-time commander, Commodore Popham, who led a doomed attack on South America.
Following Nelson's death two years earlier, England is in desperate need of heroes and Kydd's Caribbean exploits are the talk of London. Feted by the king and a grateful country, Kydd is soon on detachment in a new and dangerous sphere of interest: the Dardanelles, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea and providing a route to India. The French have long coveted this route, knowing that it could be the key to toppling the British Empire in India. When they successfully whip up such strong anti-English sentiment that the British ambassador to Constantinople has to flee to L'Aurore, a deadly stand-off ensues.
Meanwhile Kydd's closest friend, Nicholas Renzi, has assumed a new role that he can never make public. Sent under alias on a mission to Constantinople, Renzi must engineer a coup that will turn the tables on the French. But when he's taken prisoner, only Kydd's superb seamanship and sheer bravado can save the day.
Book 16
Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar removed the spectre of invasion and England is now free to seek conquests and colonies in the furthest reaches of the world.
Captain Kydd joins an expedition to take Dutch-held Cape Town, a strategic imperative to secure the rich trade-route to India. But even if the British can defeat the enemy and take possession of the capital, there is still more fighting to be done.
Kydd and his men must defend the fragile colony from attacks by the enemy from all sides, while braving the wild beasts and hostile environment of Africa's vast and savage hinterland.
Cape Colony is proving a tiresome assignment for Captain Kydd's daring commander-in-chief Commodore Popham. Rumours that South America's Spanish colonies are in a ferment of popular unrest and of a treasure hoard of silver spur him to assemble a makeshift invasion fleet and launch a bold attack on the capital of the Viceroyalty of the River Plate, Buenos Aires.
Navigating the treacherous bars and mud flats of the river, the British invasion force lands and wins a battle against improbable odds, taking the capital and the silver. But nothing is as simple as it seems in this region of the world: the uprising that will see the end of Spanish rule never arrives and the locals begin to see dark conspiracies behind the invader's actions. Soon the tiny British force finds itself surrounded by an ever more hostile population. The city begins to revolt against its liberators.
Now Kydd's men must face fierce resistance and the betrayal of their closest allies. Can they save themselves, and their prize?
At first the plucky craft brings them luck and fortune but she is eventually overwhelmed by the raw forces of the sea - and Kydd finds his seamanship, tenacity and courage put to the ultimate test.
