Christopher C. Tubbs Libri

Martin Stockley at 12 years old was underfed and undersized as the youngest of nine in a Dorset clay miner's family. But he had a sharp mind, had learned to read, write and do his numbers and had a fascination for maps. A stroke of good fortune sees him taken in as a Ship's Boy and Under Steward to the Captain in the Falcon Frigate. Gibraltar, the siege of Toulon and Barbary pirates all feature in this tale of growing up. Luck and a lot of Dorset courage sees him at the centre of a series of adventures. Blood, guts, a beautiful Contessa and prize money. What more could a young lad from Dorset ask for.

Midshipman Martin Stockley is 15 years old and back in the Falcon for another tour at sea. Returning from a trip to the Nordics as part of a prize crew he is unexpectedly summoned to the Admiralty. The following meeting with Admiral Lord Hood and William Wickham twists his career in the Navy in a direction he never expected and his talent for trouble is suddenly in demand. Add to the mix a beautiful widow and you have a story full of adventure, derring do and romance. He ends up back in Toulon with the beautiful French spy Linette where he is tasked with finding out what the hell Napoleon is up to amassing thousands of troops and hundreds of ships on the Mediterranean coast.

In this Fourth book of The Dorset Boy series its 1802, peace is declared in Europe and India is in a state of change. The East India Company is gradually gaining control, but the problem of pirate attacks from their base at Réunion on East Indiamen ships in the Indian Ocean is getting worse. On top of that Maharaja Holkar, who is no friend of the British, has had enough of the internal bickering’s of the Maratha Nobles and is on the march to capture Pune and eliminate the Peshwa. With a daring rescue Marty helps Arthur Wellesley get the Bassein Accord in place. 1803 sees our hero back in Europe, just in time for the war with France to start up again. Put in charge of the Special Operations Flotilla, he discovers that being in command is very different than being number two, that failure is as likely as success and has its consequences. Ship to ship and shore actions, love, loss, revenge and a little business on the side, Marty and Caroline, Blaez and their followers move from one adventure to the next leaving a trail of destruction and pain for the French.

Newly promoted to lieutenant and made commander of the cutter Lark, Marty continues his adventures in the Special Operations Flotilla of the Royal Navy. Doing the jobs normal officers will not do because they see them as dishonorable, Marty's peasant roots are an asset to William Wickham, the spymaster of Britain, and Admiral Lord Hood, the secret head of Navy covert operations. Betrayal in the Batavian Republic, the Coup of the 19th November, Pirates in Madagascar and an explosive encounter with Arthur Wellesley in India keep our boy busy. His love affair with Lady Caroline continues, titillating the gossips of London and enthralling ladies all over Britain.

It is 1820 George III is dead and George the IV is King. George Canning consolidates the various independent Intelligence groups under one umbrella. Marty's ships are deemed surplus to the Navy. The world is more or less at peace but in Greece the rumblings of discontent with Ottoman rule are turning into the growls of revolution. The British want Cyprus which means Marty has to keep his promise to the Felicia Eteria, but as usual it turns out to be not quite so simple and to complicate things Portugal is experiencing an uprising of constitutionalists. Espionage, land and sea battles, heroes and villains. A romp through history with all the usual suspects.

It’s winter 1807 and Marty gets some rare home time, but he isn’t allowed to rest peacefully the French have it in for him and Napoleon has placed a huge reward on his head, dead or alive. Unable to get to him directly they try and use his family as leverage resulting in a daring rescue and the uncovering of a mole in the Foreign Office. Then he joins up with Sidney Smith and gets involved in the rescue of the Portuguese royal family when the French invade. Hood gets him involved with Thomas Cochrane, possibly the most successful of all the frigate captains, at the Battle of Basque Roads and he discovers that even success cannot protect you against the political powers that be if you cross the wrong man. The story concludes with another trip to the Indian Ocean and another conflict with the French Intelligence Service.Adventure, Action and passion.