The year is 1793 and twenty-year-old Thomas Paine Kydd from Guildford earns his living as a wig-maker, only dimly aware of the war breaking out across Europe. But then he is seized by the press-gang and forced to be part of the crew of the 98-gun line-of-battle ship Duke William. From these humble beginnings, Kydd resolves to become a true seaman and goes on to progress rapidly through the ranks, forming a variety of alliances along the way both abiding and transient. From a doomed romance in Canton to a sweet Danish girl in Copenhagen via a treacherous Spanish lady, Kydd's exploits take him into dramatic encounters all around the world. He fights pirates in the Caribbean, Arabs in India, is shipwrecked, castaway, raises a rebellion and fights legendary battles in locations like Egypt, Oceania and the Americas.

The magnificent story of one man's journey from pressed man to retired admiral, the Kydd series is the voyage of a lifetime.