Patrick O'Brian · 1983 · sea

The ninth novel is set among the intrigues of British-held Malta, where Stephen labours to unmask a French double agent who has corrupted the island's intelligence. Meanwhile Jack is sent on a strange and arduous expedition: overland across the Egyptian desert from the Mediterranean to Suez, and then down the Red Sea by galley to forestall a French scheme. This route follows that expedition from Malta to Alexandria, across the sands to Suez, and out into the Red Sea.

1. 1
   Malta

   In the great harbour of Valletta, the hub of British power in the Mediterranean, Stephen moves through a world of spies and double-dealing, certain that French intelligence has penetrated the island's secrets and slowly closing on the traitor. Jack, meanwhile, frets in an inefficient dockyard, waiting for a ship and a purpose.

2. 2
   Alexandria

   Jack's purpose comes as an unusual order: to cross to Egypt and lead a small expedition against a French effort in the Red Sea. The Surprise carries him to Alexandria, the ancient port where Europe's sea meets the deserts of Africa, the jumping-off point for a march no naval officer expects to make.

3. 3
   Suez

   From the Nile the expedition strikes out overland across the burning desert to Suez, a hard passage of camels and thirst and shifting sand that tries Jack and his seamen far more than any gale. At its end lies the head of the Red Sea and the waiting boats.

4. 4
   The Red Sea

   Down the hot, reef-strewn waters of the Red Sea the expedition rows and sails after its quarry, in an action as far from the green Atlantic as any Jack has known. The mission's success is doubtful and its rewards thin, but the strange voyage through Pharaoh's sea is one neither he nor Stephen will forget.