This salty saga not only conjures up the intrepid world of C. S. Forester, but also the extravagant gallantry of a Beau Geste or a Four Feathers. Everything is shipshape, seaworthy and clean as a whistle, and the hero is the gamest skipper going in the era of England's 18th century armada. From midshipman to admiral we follow Edward Pellew who ""never had a friend but the King's pennant"" as he goes on Canadian skirmishes with General Bourgoyne, takes part in the Revolutionary wars of America and France, and has further adventures against the Spanish and the banditti of Algiers. The chapters are rousing, the characters spirited, and the language full of old tar and eloquence. Pellew has only one vice, a hot-headed courageous independence, and one susceptibility- the lovely Susan whom he marries. Their oldest son acquires his command at 17.... A noble yarn in the hoopla and honor tradition.