Here is a vividly authentic, meticulously

crafted novel, presenting an Upstairs. Down-

stairs view of the Royal Navy during the ma-

jestic flood tide of Victorian imperialism.

It was a time when arrogance and self-in-

dulgence, suffering and poverty were taken

for granted, and foreign uprisings were settled

by gunboat or battleship. The Royal Navy

was the most esteemed and powerful force in

the world.

Rod Maclewin and Archy Buller joined the

Navy for reasons as different as their own per-

sonal lives and backgrounds. Rod came from

the slums of Tyneside, where poverty and un-

employment stalked the narrow streets and

shipyards. For him the Navy was the only

harsh alternative to hunger and despair. Buller

was descended from generations of naval of-

ficers, many of them admirals with victories

and prize money to their credit.

These two young men, one a rich and priv-

ileged officer, the other a rating from the

lower deck, meet in the midst of combat in a

distant campaign. From that time. as they

grow and rise in rank, fate and war bring them