IMAGE
Julian Stockwin
Softback
Book Reviews
201106
This third book in the Kydd and Renzi series of tales sees the principal characters developing nicely. We also see the Stockwin style confirmed. In some ways his books are a collection of related short stories, allowing a much greater freedom to explore the many facets of life in the Royal Navy. This book begins with a period of frustration and uncertainty. The Artemis survivors are confined to a hulk, awaiting the convening of a court martial for the loss of Artemis. The pace soon picks up. With mysterious haste they are put aboard HMS Trajan, a 74 Gun line of battle ship, bound for the West Indies. With the defeat of the French fleet by Admiral Howe an opportunity has been created for Britain to strengthen her hold on her own possessions in the West Indies and to begin the process of taking the French possessions. It is in this story that we learn the true family name of Nicholas Renzi as we are introduced to his younger brother, a wealthy and influential owner of a sugar plantation. We also find to Kydd's surprise a change in his sister's fortunes as she comes out to the West Indies to marry, only to suffer tragedy and then find new opportunity that will bind her into the tale. Our heroes head off in Trajan for the invasion of French islands. Stockwins careful research and visits to the locations pay off with rich detail of life in the West Indies, the society and the politics of what was the financial power house of the developing British Empire. In the face of greater numbers an evacuation is called, Kydd and Renzi are separated, Kydd being reunited with Trajan and heading into a fearsome hurricane. Kydd plays a key part in saving his ship from destruction and becomes a slave master in the dockyard at Antigua when the badly damaged Trajan is condemned. Kydd survives yellow fever and is reunited with Renzi aboard the topsail cutter Seaflower which is the central part of story for this book. The Royal Navy operated many small craft like Seaflower and their crews rarely had the opportunity for prize money, being used mainly to carry dispatches and run other errands for the fleet. Stockwin's ingenuity provides Seaflower with a different fate and some fighting action, excitement and prize money. Seaflower's success sees her captain advanced and his successor a very different character who does not last long. Seaflower is then given the responsibility for carrying a senior diplomat on his way back to Britain with vital intelligence. There is another storm, Seaflower is cast ashore and our heroes are given the task of taking the diplomat and Kydd's sister in an open boat some 500 miles past enemy islands to Barabados and a ship home. There is suspense and excitement, near disaster and final success. The story ends with our heroes set fair for further advancement on a note of triumph. Stockwin has woven historical fact into a book that entertains and informs. Each stage of the story has its twists and turns with nothing certain until the end. There is depth to the characters, aided by the author's use of true tales as a basis for his work. What may surprise some readers is the nature of the sailing Navy. A modern navy has a formal structure that runs through the service, with training courses and training establishments. Vessels are ordered and built to a specification. In the Navy of Kydd's time it was a very different structure where everyone from the powder monkey to the Admiral learned from direct experience. Men were taken from the merchant marine and some returned after enforced naval service. Ships were frequently kept in operation long after they should have been paid off. Many British warships began their lives in the service of other countries and were taken as prizes before being repaired and used against their former owners. Life in naval vessels continues to vary according to the size of vessel, but in Kydd's time the variety was far greater and the lack of electronic command and control systems meant that many vessels spent much of their service detached and operating under the initiative of their captains. Stockwin captures this environment and the people of the time in a rattling good yarn. This book can only build on his reputation and increase the loyal following of readers.
R1395
Fiction
0-340-79478-X
http://tinyurl.com/
Seaflower
407
£6.99
Hodder and Stoughton