Sequel to The Commodore.

The Napoleonic wars are drawing to a close. Jack Aubrey is beset with legal problems on land and Stephen Maturin’s fortune has been seized by the Spanish au­thor­i­ties. They are sent to sea to be part of the blockade of the French port of Brest, where they are in disfavor with the admiral leading the blockade.

Perhaps the slowest of the Aubrey-Maturin books, it ends with Napoleon being exiled to Elba and then the news that Napoleon has escaped.