It is 1667 and the mighty naval war between the Dutch and the English still rages. Sir Francis Courtney and his son Hal, in their fighting caravel, are on patrol off southern Africa, lying in wait for a galleon of the Dutch East India Company returning from the Orient laden with spices, timber and gold... 'The scope is magnificent and the epic scale breathtaking ... Wilbur Smith is one of thos benchmarks agains whom others are compared' The Times 'Meticulous research supports constant excitement in a fast-moving tale' Washington Post