The nineteenth century has just begun, but it has not arrived quietly.

At least, not on the high seas, where Lieutenant Oliver Anson and his comrades have been fighting the Napoleonic Wars. A tenuous peace finds them enjoying some respite. And for Oliver, there are matters of the heart to be resolved back at home.

But nobody is taking anything for granted. Which is how Anson and his friends, including the rakish French aristocrat Hurel, find themselves undertaking clandestine work in France, just as the peace begins to falter and the threat level rapidly rises.

A Stormy Peace is a meticulously-researched and highly engaging book. A must-read for fans of naval and maritime stories.

David McDine, OBE, is a former Admiralty information officer, Royal Navy Reserve officer and Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, and the author of Unconquered: The Story of Kent and its Lieutenancy. He also wrote The Normandy Privateer, another naval adventure featuring Lieutenant Oliver Anson, of which Strike the Red Flag is a prequel.