Douglas Reeman Libros

Malta 1941. Para la mayoría de la gente, el HMS Saracen es sólo un barco feo y obsoleto con un pasado reciente igualmente desagradable: su último comandante se enfrenta a un consejo de guerra tras bombardear las tropas a las que le habían enviado a proteger. Pero al capitán Richard Chesnaye le trae recuerdos, recuerdos de la Primera Guerra Mundial, cuando él y el viejo buque monitor hicieron la campaña de Gallipoli juntos. Al parecer, comandante y barco están ambos lejos de su mejor momento. Pero cuando la guerra entra en una nueva fase, Chesnaye presiente la posibilidad de un nuevo e importante papel para él y el Saracen.

1941. To the residents and defence forces of the Crown Colony of Hong Kong, the war in Europe remains remote. Even the massive build-up of Japanese forces on the Chinese border cannot dent their carefree optimism. Yet one man suspects the truth. Lieutenant Commander Esmond Brooke, captain of HMS Serpent and a veteran of the cruet Atlantic, sees all too clearly the folly and incompetence of Hong Kong' s colonial administration. But, in war, there will always be some who attempt the impossible, even in the face of death.

As 1794 draws to a close Richard Bolitho, commanding the old seventy-four-gun ship of the line Hyperion, leaves Plymouth to join a squadron blockading the rising power of Revolutionary France. After six months of repairs his ship is ready to fight again, but her company is mostly raw and untrained. Unfortunately, Bolitho finds himself under a commodore who is no match for the French admiral, Lequiller, whose powerful squadron uses guile and ruthless determination to elude him and vanish into the Atlantic. Hyperion, as part of a small British force, gives chase, the desperate voyage taking them from the Bay of Biscay's squall to the heat of the Caribbean - and for each mile sailed and every battle fought Bolitho finds himself being forced into the ever more demanding role of strategist and squadron commander.

It is December 1917, Germany opens the final, bitter round of the war with a new and deadly weapon in the struggle for the seas -- the Vulcan sails from Kiel Harbour. To all appearances she is a harmless merchant vessel. But her peaceful lines conceal a merciless firepower; guns, mines and torpedoes that can be brought into play instantly. The Vulcan is a commerce raider. And under crack commander Felix von Steiger her mission is to bring chaos to the seaways.

Set against the backdrop of January 1944, the story follows Rudolf Steiger, a legendary U-boat commander grappling with the shifting tides of war. As he leads the U-boat flotilla Meteor into perilous Atlantic waters, he confronts not only external enemies but also his inner turmoil and doubts about Germany's fate. Steiger's journey explores themes of honor, duty, and the haunting possibility of a heroic death as he navigates the harsh realities of warfare and his own psyche.

As the French enter the American War of Independence in earnest, young Richard Bolitho is given his first command, "Sparrow" - a fast, well-armed fighting sloop. At last he has the chance to prove his abilities as a junior captain. But he faces other challenges too.

HISTORICAL FICTION. Colours Aloft!, the sixteenth Richard Bolitho novel, bears all the hallmarks of its best-selling predecessors. September 1803 Vice-Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho finds himself the new master of the Argonaute, a French flagship taken in battle. With the Peace of Armiens in ruins, he must leave the safety of Falmouth. What lies ahead is the grim reality of war at close quarters - where Bolitho who will be called upon to anticipate the overall intention of the French fleet. But the battle has also become a personal vendetta between himself and the French admiral who formerly sailed the Argonaute. Bolitho and his men are driven to a final rendezvous where no quarter is asked or given.

October 1772, Portsmouth. And sixteen-year-old Richard Bolitho waits to join the Gorgon ordered to sail to the west coast of Africa and to destroy those who challenge the King's Navy. For Bolitho, and for many of the crew, it is a severe and testing initiation into the game of seamanship.

Copenhagen, 1800, and after seven years of cruel war against France, Britain's long-standing ally, Denmark, suddenly poses a threat. The scene of battle shifts abruptly from Europe to the Baltic where Rear-Admiral Richard Bolitho is thrown immediately into a fierce struggle with the enemy.

It is 1784, and His Majesty's frigate "Undine" sets sail from Spithead for India. Europe may be at peace, but in colonial waters the promises of statesmen count for little and the bloody struggle for supremacy goes on. Richard Bolitho undertakes a task that would be better handled by a squadron.