In the seventh tale of the highly acclaimed Drinkwater series, Captain Drinkwater's frigate, HMS ANTIGONE, is ordered to the Baltic Sea in the Spring of 1807 as Napoleon's grip has begun to reach across Europe to the borders of Holy Russia. As country after country falls under the weight of French domination, Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater is faced with the challenges brought about by military disaster and diplomatic intrigue. On board the ANTIGONE, Drinkwater is threatened by the seething discontent of his crew and the instability of his drunken first lieutenant. Drinkwater's task is to cooperate with his country's allies and intelligence agents. When a coded message is intercepted, his mission suddenly becomes one of extreme personal danger. As the fate of Europe is being decided, Drinkwater must carry out his mission in the face of his old enemy. This final confrontation brings him to the brink of death.**

Review'Nautical novelist Richard Woodman arrives in New World ports with the first three of 14 installments in the Nathaniel Drinkwater series, previously released in the U.K. between 1981 and 1983 and compared by critics there to C. S. Forester's Hornblower saga. Part of the Mariner's Library Fiction Classics, An Eye of the Fleet, A King's Cutter, and A Brig of War are set in the late 18th Century and find hero Drinkwater caught up in revolutions on both sides of the Atlantic. Those looking for high seas action and historical intrigue are in luck but these are strictly for devotees of the genre.' --Publishers Weekly, May 2001 About the AuthorAs a professional sailor, Richard Woodman has progressed from apprentice to captain in a variety of ships. Along with the Drinkwater series, he has written nautical fiction about tea-clippers and cargo liners and is a member of the Society for Nautical Research. Woodman lives in England, and is considered one of the strongest voices in nautical fiction today.

In 1964, during the Far Eastern war euphemistically called 'Confrontation,' British Royal Marine Lieutenant Charles Kirton makes a most extraordinary discovery amid the dense mangrove swamps bordering a river in Borneo. From this highly-charged opening sequence, the story flashes back a century to 1867, revealing the truth behind this strange event, when young Henry Kirton, Second Officer of the auxiliary steamship River Tay, is dumped ashore in Singapore, badly injured by a fall from the rigging of his ship.

From Publishers WeeklyAlthough there's some good sea action in Woodman's (Keepers of the Sea new adventure, the chief attraction is the vivid depiction of the politics of Europe and the Royal Navy in Lord Nelson's day. In 1800, Lieut. Nathaniel Drinkwater wangles a command for himself though it's only aboard the "bomb tender" Virago, a 40-year-old former mortar ship. After Drinkwater makes Virago shipshape, she plays an important role in the 1801 attack on Copenhagen. En route to this climactic battle, Drinkwater contends with Navy politics, a cowardly blackguard of a purser, his own fugitive brother and, not least, the Danish artillery. The corruption, snobbery and pigheadedness of the Navy Office, "those portals of perfidy and corruption," is nicely conveyed, as is the Navy lore, augmented by an interesting, low-key portrait of the great Nelson. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalLt. Drinkwater, of the British navy, takes part in the Baltic expedition of 1801. Though in command of a mere support ship for the bomb vessels (as mortar-firing ships were called), his initiative brings him to the notice of Lord Nelson. This leads to a fighting command at the bombardment of Copenhagen and promotion to commander. Drinkwater brings C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower to mind. Though quicker tempered and less introspective, Drinkwater has the same decisive nature and willingness to take risks. Also, like Forester, Woodman's technical knowledge of ships and tactics is extensive enough to satisfy the knowledgeable reader's desire for correct detail. The book is intended as part of a series but will stand alone as a good sea story. Recommended for public libraries. C. Robert Nixon, M.L.S, W. Lafayette, Ind.Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In 1809, working undercover for the Admiralty's Secret Department, Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater goes ashore and mingles with the dregs of London's dockland. Disguised as a Merchant Marine shipmaster of low character, he encounters a known French agent in a brothel and advertises his plans to carry military cargo to Russia.

The frozen splendor of the Arctic Ocean and the absorbing drama of a nineteenth century whale hunt unfold in The Corvette. Rewarded by promotion for his services at the Battle of Copenhagen, Commander Drinkwater is dispatched in haste to replace the captain of the MELUSINE, who has been shot in a duel. The ship sails as an escort to a whaling fleet on its annual expedition to the Greenland Sea in pursuit of right whales. During the whale hunt the loss of one of the vessels sets off a chain of misfortune. Disaster, death and treachery result. To repair his ship, Drinkwater seeks shelter off the Greenland coast and finds more hazards than the Arctic alone can produce. It is here that Drinkwater makes the most difficult decision of his career.

From the tide-torn waters of the Thames, where Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater is compelled to hand a deserter, to the seas off Cape Horn, storm-scoured gateway to the Pacific, the great cruiser PATRICIAN is tense with the threat of mutiny.Despite this, Drinkwater captures a Spanish frigate and meets the stunning Doña Ana Maria, daughter of the Commandante of San Francisco. But, having disturbed a hornet's nest of colonial intrigue, Drinkwater finds that the Spanish are eager to humiliate him and the Royal navy. Moreover, a Russian battleship lurks somewhere offshore, pursuing Tsar Alexander's dark plans. Caught between two formidable enemies, Drinkwater's mission is made impossible by treachery.But chance brings the aid of Doña Ana Maria and mysterious mountain man. In the distant waters of this beautiful and remote region, Drinkwater struggles to carry out his mission and is truck with ten most extraordinary twist of fortune in his eventful life.

It is 1811 and Napoleon's French Empire dominates Europe. Desperate to stem the encroaching French tide and avert war with the emerging power of the United States, the Royal Navy orders Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater to the Chesapeake Bay to heal the rift between London and Washington.Quite by chance, on the banks of the Potomac, Drinkwater discovers the first clue to a bold plan by which the U.S. could defeat the Royal Navy, collapse the British government and utterly destroy the British cause. Amid personal crisis, Drinkwater takes command of a squadron sent against the Americans in the South Atlantic, audaciously risking his reputation and, in a climactic confrontation, coming face-to-face with the horror of an interminable war.

Drinkwater, in his fight to bring a half-armed ship safely to the Cape of Good Hope, is best with personal enmity and the violence of the sea.

Review'Nautical novelist Richard Woodman arrives in New World ports with the first three of 14 installments in the Nathaniel Drinkwater series, previously released in the U.K. between 1981 and 1983 and compared by critics there to C. S. Forester's Hornblower saga. Part of the Mariner's Library Fiction Classics, An Eye of the Fleet, A King's Cutter and A Brig of War are set in the late 18th Century and find hero Drinkwater caught up in revolutions on both sides of the Atlantic. Those looking for high seas action and historical intrigue are in luck but these are strictly for devotees of the genre.' --Publishers Weekly, May 2001 About the AuthorAs a professional sailor, Richard Woodman has progressed from apprentice to captain in a variety of ships. Along with the Drinkwater series, he has written nautical fiction about tea-clippers and cargo liners and is a member of the Society for Nautical Research. Woodman lives in England, and is considered one of the strongest voices in nautical fiction today.

Among the coral outcrops of the island of Rota, lies the wreck of a Spanish galleon, the Santa Margarita - Spring 1601. This is a reconstruction of the Santa Margaritas disastrous last voyage, beset by an extraordinary sequence of typhoons and storms. Based on what little is known of the ships journey overloaded cargo, bad-blood amongst the crew and a curse we are told a story of greed, horror, deprivation and unimaginable hardship by the handful of survivors rescued from the wreck.

The Year is 1813. Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater succeeds Lord Dungarth as head of the Royal Navy’s Secret Department. While the Grand Army of Napoleon faces defeat on the battlefields of Germany, the discovery of a secret treaty with America leads Drinkwater into the forbidding fjords of Norway, and one of the most desperate missions of his career. Increasingly isolated and affected by the long war with France and her allies, Drinkwater pursues his personal odyssey against often daunting odds. In a compelling narrative the author brings vividly to life conditions at sea during the Napoleonic wars. The fate of one of Napoleon’s most charismatic marshals is linked with American privateers, escaped prisoners and the Danish Navy resulting in a violent confrontation set beneath the aurora.**