The Nutmeg of Consolation

Patrick O'Brian is regarded by many as the greatest historical novelist in English. In 'The Nutmeg of Consolation', Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin begin stranded on an uninhabited island in the Dutch East Indies, attacked by ferocious Malay pirates. They contrive their escape, but after a stay in Batavia and a change of ship, are caught up in a night chase in fiercely tidal waters and then embroiled in the much more insidious conflicts of the terrifying penal settlements of New South Wales. It is one of O'Brian's most accomplished and gripping books.

'Some of the success of this great sequence comes from the conviction and huge enthusiasm which O'Brian had for his history. Everything changed the moment he realised the Napoleonic wars were the Englishman's Troy tales, as historically and mythically rich, and imaginatively exploitable as the story that produced 'The Iliad' and all its heirs.'
W.L. Webb, 'Guardian'

'One of the most brilliantly sustained pieces of historical fiction writing this century.'
James Teacher, 'Spectator'