Most late 18^th century sea adventures lead with an officer on deck. Even Forrester went back to make Hornblower a midshipmen. It seems too difficult to make a good story from the limited point of view of the ordinary seaman but Mr. Stockwin has done just that and an excellent job too.

            Kydd, is a wig makers apprentice who happens to be drinking in the wrong pub at the wrong time. He’s pressed into the king’s service and we get to see the fear and wonder of the landsmen new to his majesty’s a ship of the line. Kydd is a strong and adventurous young man and soon sees the advantage in becoming an able seaman and more. He aims to become a top men, some of the most prizes men on the ship and his adventures begin.

            To give him a leg up he befriends another young man who has poise, education, wealth. Nicholas Reniz has exiled himself from posh society and sentenced himself to five years before the mast. These two form a duet that presents us a new and interesting point of view on a favored subject.

            Kidd faces the typical situations we’ve seen in earlier books but with the freedoms and constraints that come with being a regular tar. The book is very well written and moves along smartly as Kydd aims for promotion and high adventure.