Tredje bind i Patrick O?Bians verdensberømte romanserie om Jack Aubrey, den elskverdige bredskuldrede kapteinen i Nelsons flåte, og hans venn Stephen Maturin, skipslege og spion.Jack Aubrey får i oppdrag å eskortere en britisk ambassadør til India, og reisen bringer ham og Stephen Maturin til orientens fremmedartede, dragende syner og dufter. Underveis krysser de gjennom Sydhavets skjærgård av krydder-øyer, hvor den stadig gjeldstyngede Jack ser muligheter for å ta priser. Doktor Maturin har sine grunner for å ville dra til India: Diana Villiers har reist dit sammen med en velstående kjøpmann fra City og Østindia-kompaniet.
...fictional version based on the historical HMS Surprise, but with a different back story. She becomes the most important fictional ship in the Aubrey-Maturin series. The "cutting out" (capturing while in port, either at anchor or berthed) of HMS Hermione refers to an actual event involving HMS Surprise ... HMS Surprise (1916), a Yarrow later M-class destroyer launched in 1916 and sunk in 1917. HMS Surprise (K346), a Bay-class frigate. She had been laid down as HMS Loch Carron but was renamed HMS Gerrans Bay in 1944 before being launched in 1945. She was renamed HMS Surprise and used as a despatch vessel later that year, and was broken up in 1965. HMS Surprise was the name the Royal Navy gave to the French Navy's corvette Unité after her capture in 1796. Launched on 16 February 1794, the ship gained fame in 1799 for the recapture of HMS Hermione, and in 1802 was sold out of the service. "HMS" Surprise is a modern tall ship built at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The vessel was built in 1970 as...