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In the seventh tale of the highly acclaimed Drinkwater series, Captain Drinkwater's frigate, HMS ANTIGONE, is ordered to the Baltic Sea in the Spring of 1807 as Napoleon's grip has begun to reach across Europe to the borders of Holy Russia. As country after country falls under the weight of French domination, Captain Nathaniel Drinkwater is faced with the challenges brought about by military disaster and diplomatic intrigue. On board the ANTIGONE, Drinkwater is threatened by the seething show more discontent of his crew and the instability of his drunken first lieutenant. Drinkwater's task is to cooperate with his country's allies and intelligence agents. When a coded message is intercepted, his mission suddenly becomes one of extreme personal danger. As the fate of Europe is being decided, Drinkwater must carry out his mission in the face of his old enemy. This final confrontation brings him to the brink of death. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
These books comprise a nearly seamless professional life of Nathaniel Drinkwater. They are highly satisfying in terms of plotting, use of historical personages and events, and character development. The Royal Navy career of the author lends an authenticity to reactions, settings, and mindsets that make this series stand apart from any other I have read. Woodman's sparce understated prose is perfect for these tales. Another thing I deeply appreciate is that the protagonist is both a good officer and a good, caring man. Hurrah for a leading man who is neither perfect nor a bad boy anti-hero! How refreshing.
This duo of sea adventures spans the historic to the contemporary. Written in 1988, Baltic Mission is an installment in Woodman's Nathaniel Drinkwater series. This episode finds the British sailor on a secret assignment for the crown while Napoleon continues to acquire real estate. Drinkwater is soon at odds with his crew and hamstrung by his drunken first mate. The Endangered Species of this 1992 title are both the British merchant fleet and Capt. John Mackinnon, skipper of the Matthew Flinders. On his last voyage before retirement, Mackinnon, too, finds himself facing a hostile crew, as well as a typhoon and a load of Vietnamese refugees he feels he must rescue and deliver to safety. Now that Patrick O'Brian is gone, this is a solid show more author to recommend show less
Apr 4, 2012Dutch
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Author Information
92+ Works 2,479 Members
Richard Woodman was born in London. England in 1944. He became an indentured midshipman in cargo liners at the age of 16, which resulted in a 37 year nautical career. He became captain in 1980. He spent 11 years in command at sea, 6 years in operational management ashore, and is currently a Board Member of Trinity House, the authority responsible show more for navigational safety round the coast. He is a regular correspondent for the shipping newspaper Lloyd's List. He has written over 50 books, a mixture of fiction and maritime history. His fiction works include the Nathaniel Drinkwater series, A Kit Faulkner Naval Adventure series, and The William Kite Trilogy. He received several awards including the Desmond Wettern Maritime Media Award in 2001 for his journalism, the Society of Nautical Research's Anderson Medal in 2005 for three major studies of convoy operations in the Second World War, and the Marine Society's Thomas Gray Medal in 2010 for his five-volume history of the British Merchant Navy. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Baltic Mission
- People/Characters
- Nathaniel Drinkwater; Edward Santhonax; Lord Dungarth; James Quilhampton; Colin Alexander Mackenzie
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Statistics
- Members
- 97
- Popularity
- 327,585
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 3
