Storm and Conquest

Resumen del libro

By 1809 the Indian Ocean was the final battleground for Nelson's Navy and the French fleet. At stake was Britain's commercial lifeline to India - and its strategic capacity to wage war in Europe.

In one fatal season, the natural order of maritime power since Trafalgar was destroyed. In bringing home saltpetre for the Peninsular campaign, Britain lost 14 of her great Indiamen, either sunk or taken by enemy frigates. Many hundreds of lives were lost, and the East India Company was shaken to its foundations. The focus of these disasters was a tiny French outpost in mid-ocean - the island now known as Mauritius.