Thomas Kydd

1793 and Europe is ablaze with war. Thomas Paine Kydd, a young wig-maker from Guildford, is seized by the press gang to be a part of the crew of the 98-gun line-of-battle ship Duke William. The ship sails immediately and Kydd has to learn the harsh realities of shipboard life fast. Despite all that he goes through in danger of tempest and battle he comes to admire the skills and courage of the seamen - taking up the challenge himself to become a true sailor.

This second naval adventure follows the life of Thomas Paine Kydd who sails into Portsmouth a hero after a ferocious battle against the French. Soon the sea beckons and Kydd sets off aboard his beloved Artemis for another adventure.

It is two years since Thomas Paine Kydd was spirited away in the night to serve his country aboard the 'Duke William'. Now, with his friend Nicholas Renzi and crew members from the 'Artemis', Tom is a shipwrecked sailor back in the land of his birth.

Kydd, to win the heart of a lady, volunteers to join a mission to Venice to rescue a diplomat fleeing over the Alps in the wake of Bonaparte's victories. When he returns to England he finds himself involved in the Mutiny at the Nore.

Thomas Kydd was promoted to acting lieutenant at the bloody Battle of Camperdown in October 1797. Now he must sit an exam to confirm his rank or face an inglorious return before the mast.

Kydd is in Halifax when Tenacious is summoned to join Horatio Nelson on an urgent reconnaissance mission. However, Bonaparte evades the British ships, sailing towards Egypt, which holds the key to the route to India.

Thrilled at his first command, Thomas Kydd must race to bring his ship to battle readiness - he is needed to defend Malta against Barbary corsairs, privateers and the French who are trying to rescue the remnants of their army in the Levant.

Tensions are escalating between England and Napoleon's France. While the Royal Navy launches reconnaissance, rescue missions, and spies on the continent, French privateer ships are lurking in English waters poised to strike at British trade. Meanwhile, smugglers and storms threaten to overcome HMS Teazer.

Thomas Kydd has dragged himself up in the navy from press-ganged seaman to captain of his own ship. Now he faces disgrace. After offending a general and suffering a personal tragedy, Kydd is sent to guard the Channel Islands. His career in tatters, he then makes a terrible enemy on his own side. When he is brutally betrayed off the Normandy coast, only his old friend, Renzi, is willing to stick by him.

Napoleon's forces are poised to invade Britain, and Commander Thomas Kydd's ship is at the forefront of the fleet defending the English coast. His honour restored after temporary disgrace in the Channel Islands, and reunited with his ship Teazer, Kydd seizes the chance to fight for his country. Then Kydd is abruptly withdrawn from the fleet and sent back to Dover on a secret mission to guard a mysterious American inventor.

Commander Thomas Kydd is eager to play his part in thwarting Bonaparte’s plans for the invasion of England. Joining Admiral Nelson’s command, Kydd and his ship soon find themselves at the heart of the action that leads up to the famous clash of the mighty British and French fleets at Trafalgar.Kydd’s journey takes him from false sightings of the enemy and dramatic chases across the Atlantic, to the bloody annihilation of the enemy during the actual battle, and the heroic aftermath.

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.

Cape Colony is proving a tiresome assignment for Captain Kydd's daring commander-in-chief. Rumours of popular unrest in the Spanish colonies and of a treasure hoard 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 here....

Thomas Kydd, a hero of Trafalgar, holds the glory of being Post-Captain of the 32-gun frigate, L'Aurore. A Caribbean posting seems a welcome respite for the war hero, but when more and more merchantmen begin vanishing from the sea, fear starts to spread. Kydd must embark on a dangerous game of espionage in order to destroy this new and terrible danger to the Empire.

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.

The greatest naval trial in the Georgian period is underway at Portsmouth with the court-martial of Sir Home Popham, Captain Sir Thomas Kydd's commanding officer in the doomed occupation of Buenos Aires. Kydd has some sympathy for Popham's unauthorised action, but his support for his former commander leaves him athwart some very influential people in the admiralty. With his frigate, L'Aurore, unfit for sea, Kydd is given a commission that some hope will destroy his career.

It's 1807. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd's famous sea action aboard Tyger has snatched his reputation from ignominy. He is the hero of the hour. But though Britain's navy remains imperious, a succession of battles has seen Napoleon victorious on mainland Europe. In an attempt to prevent the French from taking control of Denmark's navy, Kydd's great friend, Nicholas Renzi - now Lord Farndon - is sent on a desperate diplomatic mission to persuade the Danes to give up their fleet to Britain.

Compelling naval action from the master of the sea story. November 1807. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd must sail to Lisbon to aid the Portuguese Royal Family's evacuation in the face of Napoleon's ruthless advance through Iberia. In the chaos of the threatened city, an old passion is reawakened when he meets Persephone Lockwood, a beautiful and determined admiral's daughter from his past. But the Royal Family's destination is Brazil, Perspehone's England, and it seems Kydd's chance has gone again.

The 19th novel in Julian Stockwin's acclaimed Captain Kydd series. It's 1808. Parted from his new bride, Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is called away to join the Northern Expedition to Sweden, now Britain's only ally in the Baltic. Following the sudden declaration of war by Russia, and with the consequent threat of the czar's great fleet in St Petersburg, the expedition must defend Britain's dearly won freedom in those waters. However, Kydd finds his popular fame as a frigate captain is a poisoned chalice....

With the Peninsula in turmoil, Napoleon Bonaparte signs a treaty to dismember Portugal and put his brother, Joseph, on the throne of Spain. Meanwhile, Nicholas Renzi, the Lord Farndon, undertakes a deadly mission to stir up partisan unrest to disrupt this Napoleonic alliance with Spain. Thrust into the crucible of the uprising, Captain Sir Thomas Kydd is dismayed to come up against an old foe from his past - now his superior and commander - who is determined to break him. Kydd will soon face the greatest decision of his professional career.