The final installment in Donachie's sweeping series set in the pre-WWII European powder keg1938: As Hitler sets his sights on the Sudetenland, not everyone in Britain is willing to appease him. Convinced that the Führer's land hunger is insatiable, the head of the SIS recruits Cal Jardine to help him prove that Czechoslovakia is threatened with invasion. But before heading undercover to Prague, Jardine must first extricate himself from France, where his attempts to smuggle guns to Spain have been held up by a group of fanatical fascists. In their struggle to overthrow the French government, they are prepared to kill for the sake of procuring weapons.When Cal finally arrives in Czechoslovakia, working undercover for the SIS proves no less dangerous as jealousy and mutual suspicions within Secret Service ranks make it impossible for him to tell friend from foe.

1787. Captain Edward Brazier is wounded and in desperate need of medical attention, but those from whom he could seek help have no idea where he is – although neither do his enemies. With his beloved Betsey currently imprisoned by her brother Henry, who is considering committing her to an asylum to take her off his hands, time is running out for Brazier to rescue her and end the tyranny of the local smuggling ring of Deal once and for all.

The final volume in The Last Roman trilogy, set in the final years of the Roman EmpireSixth-century Byzantium: The emperor Justinian is determined to reunite the whole of the Roman Empire and his best general, Flavius Belisarius, is poised to invade Italy. Flavius and his men march north unopposed until the local senators of Naples refuse to surrender and a bloody assault ensues. Rome, hearing of the fate of Naples, yields the city to Flavius, but before long the Goths arrive and stage a brutal attack which Flavius's army only just survives.Besieged and mired in a cesspit of corruption, Byzantium's greatest general must navigate a world rife with deceit and brutality where only the most cutthroat survive.

1936: Soldier of fortune Cal Jardine travels to Barcelona to help with the athletic games rivalling the Berlin Olympics. But as the first shots of civil war ring out, friendship, love, and political conviction converge to persuade Jardine to once again embroil himself in a foreign war.Discovering that the British athletes attending the games are keen to enlist for the fight, Jardine agrees to train them into a professional force. With old army comrade Vince Castellano and his beautiful interpreter Florencia Gardiola by his side, Jardine leads the athletes through the street battles of Barcelona and on to the fighting in the Catalan countryside. But when murderous betrayal blights his previous fortune, Jardine will go to any lengths to seek suitable revenge . . .

1787. Captain Edward Brazier is on a mission: recently paid off from his frigate and comfortably off with prize money, he is headed to Deal to propose marriage to young widow Betsey Langridge. He must navigate the bustle of the town's narrow streets that are busy with legal, illicit and depraved business flowing from and around the ships at dock. But all does not go well; between Betsy's brother and guardian Henry Tulkington prohibiting the match, and Brazier marked out for trouble by a local smuggling gang, his plans are in disarray. And when it slowly emerges that there may have been a decades old injustice closer to home, Brazier is caught up in more than he'd bargained for.

Privateer Harry Ludlow finds himself aboard the navy's 74-gun Magnanime, with his younger brother James. In command is Oliver Carter, a captain with whom Harry has an unfortunate history. When James is found standing over the body of a dead officer, Harry's feud shifts into the background. But dark secrets start to surface on all sides.From Publishers WeeklyRoyal Navy officer-turned-privateer Harry Ludlow might get rich capturing French trade ships, an activity sanctioned under the wartime rules of 1793. In David Donachie's first book, The Devil's Own Luck: The Privateersmen Mysteries, Harry's brother James is accused of murder, and they find themselves in trouble with corrupt naval officers as the war rages around them. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.Review"A must for armchair mariners. . . . It's superb stuff." -- Manchester Evening News

The first part of an epic trilogy that chronicles the private lives and dangerous times of England's greatest naval hero and his legendary mistress.Horatio Nelson and Emma Lyon are both determined to rise from obscurity and set about making their ways through the world with corresponding recklessness and precocious ambition. Nelson enters the Royal Navy at the age of twelve and is made post captain at the age of twenty – his reputation as a daring yet benevolent officer secured in the American War of Independence. Emma, luscious but penniless, cannily confronts her limited prospects to rise through the social ranks from teenaged bawd to nobleman's courtesan to celebrated artist's model. On a Making Tide is rich in historical detail, full of authentic sea action and offers a rare peek into London's demi-monde, where the lives of a beautiful courtesan and Britain's greatest naval hero collide.

1793. John Pearce and his Pelicans are homeward bound, determined to put the treacherous Captain Ralph Barclay in the dock. But first they must evacuate Toulon where the Republican Army and the threat of the guillotine wreak havoc. Pearce must keep his wits about him in order to survive.Barclay and his wife Emily are sharing the voyage home and Pearce must stay close to both – difficult given his loathing for the captain and his feelings for Emily. Then she discovers the incriminating evidence Pearce holds against her husband, papers that could destroy his career and potentially her security.Back on British soil following a gruelling voyage, the Pelicans hope their troubles are over, but with the important documents missing, their real concerns are just beginning. Emily holds the key, but do her loyalties lie with her husband or her conscience?

July, 1793. Since being press-ganged into service in King George’s Navy, John Pearce has endured a whirlwind few months, which have seen him survive wild storms and bitter battles with the enemy. He is finally free to follow his own wishes, but the same does not apply for the trio of Pearce’s closest friends, who call themselves the Pelicans.When they are shipped off to the Mediterranean, Pearce vows to liberate the men who have stuck by him through thick and thin. But with help being withheld by all higher powers, he is obliged to embark on a dangerous mission before he can free his friends: at stake, the whole British position in the Mediterranean.

Sixth-century Byzantium: Corruption is rife and the empire is in turmoil when Flavius Belisarius is expected to join his father's cohort to help protect the border of the Eastern Roman Empire.Flavius's father, Decimus, is the governor of Dorostorum city and has two goals: to keep out the Sklaveni barbarians across the Danube and to expose the deep roots of corruption. Seeking to prevent a barbarian raid, Decimus asks the powerful magnate Senuthius Vicinus for help. But when treachery leads to death in the Belisarius family, Decimus's reputation is damaged.With his life changed forever, Flavius swears vengeance on the man who betrayed his father and begins a journey from which there is no way back.

1794. Lieutenant John Pearce, recently returned from the Atlantic, is caught between the constant feuding of two senior admirals. One puts him in a position of maximum danger while another asks him to undertake a hazardous commission, one he must accept in order to protect his friends, the Pelicans. They are his Achilles heel and those in power know it.Meanwhile, Pearce is also trying to construct a perjury case against Captain Ralph Barclay, whose nephew Toby Burns has become a reluctant pawn in the game, the objective of which is to finally silence the man who could bring about Barclay’s ruin: John Pearce.Highly charged, packed with historical detail and loaded with action – The Admirals’ Game is a must-read for all nautical adventure fans.

London 1793: Young firebrand John Pearce is illegally press-ganged from the refuge of the Pelican tavern to a brutal life aboard HMS Brilliant, a frigate on its way to war. In his first few days Pearce discovers the Navy is a world in which he can prosper. But he is not alone; he is drawn to a group of men – fly Charlie Taverner; quiet Ben Walker; tired old Abel Scrivens; the bairn of the group, Rufus Dommet; the droll, tough Irish labourer, Michael O’Hagan; and the bumptious Gherson – pressed men like him, who eventually form an exclusive gun crew, the Pelicans, with Pearce their elected leader. During an action-packed two weeks, as HMS Brilliant chases a French privateer across the English channel, this disparate group of men form friendships that will last a lifetime.

Part naval swashbuckler, part mystery story, "The Dying Trade" tells the story of smuggling and death in the Mediterranean at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. Harry Ludlow and his brother James find themselves in Genoa where Harry is commissioned to investigate a British officer's death..

1796. The long-awaited return of the Bucephalas to the safety of the Cinque Ports is interrupted by a disastrous engagement in the Channel. The looming shape of a merchantman becalmed in fog presents an almost irresistible allure. But for Harry Ludlow and his battle-weary crew, the pursuit of one last easy prize leads to a desperate fight. Yet, it is events closer to home that present the greater danger. As the Bucephalas seeks refuge in the Solent, the red flags fluttering from the topmasts signal that His Majesty's Navy has reached a state of full mutiny.