Patrick O'Brian · 1998 · mediterranean

The nineteenth novel unfolds during the Hundred Days of Napoleon's return, with Jack sent to the Mediterranean to stop a deadly scheme: a shipment of gold meant to hire a host of mercenaries to fight for the Emperor. This route follows his squadron from Gibraltar up into the Adriatic, where the plot is woven, and back to the Barbary coast of North Africa, where the treasure must be intercepted before it can change the course of the war.

1. 1
   Gibraltar

   News of Napoleon's escape from Elba reaches Jack as he passes Gibraltar into the Mediterranean, and with it grim personal news, for Diana Villiers has been killed in a carriage accident, a blow that falls on Stephen like a stone. War and grief together, Jack takes his squadron east into the old familiar sea.

2. 2
   The Adriatic

   In the Adriatic and among the wild coasts of the Balkans, Stephen unravels a dangerous design: French agents are gathering gold to raise a great force of fierce cavalry and ship them west to fight for Napoleon. To stop the mercenaries, the money that would buy them must first be found and seized.

3. 3
   The Barbary Coast

   The hunt leads to the Barbary coast of North Africa, off Algiers, where the treasure is to pass. There Jack's squadron moves to intercept the gold and break the scheme, in actions among the corsair shores that help, in their small way, to bring the Hundred Days to their end at Waterloo.