1666. The Four Days' Battle. Once again Captain Quinton finds himself in the thick of the action, fighting the Dutch in one of the epic encounters of the age of sail. But the battle is a disaster: the fleet is mysteriously divided, with part of it sent to meet a French threat that never materialises, while thousands are slaughtered by the Dutch. As popular fury turns violent, the King decides heads must roll, and Quinton is sent to rebellious, pirate-infested Plymouth to root out the source of the false intelligence that cost so many British lives. It is an unenviable role ? especially when all the evidence seems to point towards an old friend and boon companion. Then Quinton receives an urgent message from his wife, the usually level- AUTHOR: J D Davies was born in Wales and now lives in Bedfordshire. He is the foremost expert on the seventeenth-century navy and recently published Pepys' Navy which won the 2009 Samuel Pepys Award. REVIEWS: ?Mr O'Brian would have heartily approved of the finely shaded characters, excellent plotting, gut-clenching action and immaculate attention to period naval detail that Davies supplies. Superb!' Angus Donald, author of The Outlaw Chronicles ?J D Davies's depiction of Restoration England and the British navy is impeccable, his characters truly live and breathe, and the plot kept me in suspense . . . I could not recommend it more' Edward Chupack, author of Silver Swashbuckling suspense, royal intrigue and high seas naval action . . . an excellent series' Publishers Weekly SELLING POINTS: ? For readers of Patrick O'Brian, Julian Stockwin, C. S. Forester ? The 4th instalment in a planned 12-book series to run from the Restoration to the Georgians ? J. D. Davies is an award-winning historian and one of the world's foremost experts on the 17th-century navy ? Winner of the Samuel Pepys award, fourth in a stunning nautical series ? He is also an excellent novelist: these books are full of vivid characters, sparkling dialogue, sly humour and ? of course ? high adventure
