From humble birth in Suffolk, England, Francis Light struggles against the social prejudices of his day. His subsequent adventures as a naval officer and merchant sea captain take him from India to Sumatra, the Straits of Malacca to Siam, through shipwreck, sea battles, pirate raids and tropical disease. The 18th-century Straits is in crisis, beleaguered by the Dutch, the Bugis, and the clash between Siam and Burma. Francis Light, devious manipulator of the status quo, is joined by a cast of real historical figures from the courts of Siam and Kedah and from the East India Company, including Sultan Muhammed Jiwa, King Tak Sin, Raja Lumu, Warren Hastings and Martinha Rozells, a young Eurasian woman of noble birth. But Light’s most difficult challenge is achieving his ultimate dream: to establish a British port in the Indies on behalf of the East India Company.
