In the early 1800s, the British Navy stands as the only bulwark against the militant fanaticism of Napoleonic France. When Captain Jack Aubrey, R.N., returns from a tour of duty protecting whalers off South America and is lured into the criminal underground of London, friend Stephen Maturin steps in.

Captain Jack Aubrey, R. N., ashore after a successful cruise, is persuaded by a casual acquaintance to make certain investments in the City. This innocent decision ensnares him in the London criminal underground and in government espionage--the province of his friend Stephen Maturin. Is Aubrey's humiliation and the threatened ruin of his career a deliberate plot? This dark tale is a fitting backdrop to the brilliant characterization and sparkling dialogue which O'Brian's readers have come to expect.