For My Country's Freedom (Volume 0) (The Bolitho Novels (0))

War with Britain's former colony looms on the horizon, and Admiral Sir Richard Bolitho must lead a squadron against the powerful new ships of the United States navy. Supported by his loyal crew, Bolitho must use all his ingenuity to defeat one of America's great naval commanders, Nathan Beer.

Under sealed orders for a long, arduous voyage, Captain Daniel Swift must forge an efficient crew from a ragged group of old men, criminals, and young boys under his command, including his nephew and favorite, William Bentley.

Publishers Weekly

A promising first installment in a series of historical sea adventures by British writer Needle introduces readers to 14-year-old officer William Bentley and life aboard the ill-fated frigate Welfare during the Napoleonic Wars. The ship is helmed by Daniel Swift, a notoriously ruthless captain who instructs young Bentley--his nephew and favorite--in the best ways to fill the ship's complement of sailors. Forced pressing into service is illegal, but in an attempt to please his uncle, Bentley adds two crewmen through trickery and kidnapping; a young farm boy named Thomas Fox and a smuggler named Jesse Broad. Broad and Fox form a relationship that parallels Swift and Bentley's as Broad assumes a quiet role of leadership among the increasingly unhappy crew. The abusive atmosphere aboard the Welfare is thick and immediate, as is the struggle for power over the ship. Swift exerts his power strategically and sadistically, while Bentley, whose youth makes his attempts at discipline ineffectual, tries to justify his uncle's increasingly cruel actions. Floggings occur daily for the slightest offenses, and living quarters are squalid. When the inevitable mutiny occurs, it is a spontaneous eruption, liberating the crew from royal command but leaving them vulnerable to anarchic elements within their ranks. Bentley, the only officer left on board, bears witness to the mutiny's aftermath, completing a personal transformation that makes the book a bildungsroman as well as a sea story. Such tales can easily fall prey to convention, but in Needle's hands the Welfare comes alive with rich, compelling characters and vivid imagery. There are no white knights here and no one-dimensional villains; as much as one hates Swift, he is a refreshingly unpredictable character in an invigorating story. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

the Wicked Trade Is Smuggling--customs Men And Smugglers Battling Over Piles Of Booty. Surrounded By Corruption And Greed, Bentley Confronts Ever More Ruthless Companions And Crew While The Dark Shadow Of His Brutal Uncle, Captain Swift, Looms Over Him Once More.

publishers Weekly

the Title Refers To Smuggling Operations On England's Coast During The 18th Century, When Customs Men And Smugglers Battled Over Piles Of Booty. Now Young Midshipman William Bentley Of The Royal Navy Is Up To His Cutlass In Plots, Treachery And Murder In The Second Volume (following Last Year's A Fine Boy For Killing) Of Needle's Series About The Adventures Of This Intrepid Naval Officer. After Several Years Ashore, Hunger Forces Bentley To Return To The Service, Although He Hates The Navy And The Sea Life. He Is Not Surprised, Therefore, To Be Posted To An Impress Ship, A Drab Scow Charged With Forcibly Recruiting Sailors, To Fill The King's Warships With Seamen In The Current War With France. Bentley And His Fellow Midshipman Friend, Sam Holt, Are Soon Drawn Into A Complicated Conspiracy After Two Customs Men Are Brutally Murdered By A Well-organized Smuggling Gang. Greed, Corruption And Betrayal Reach High Levels In The Navy And The Government, And The Two Midshipmen Soon Are Way Over Their Heads In A Cesspool Of Savagery And Duplicity. This Is An Entertaining But Gruesome Swashbuckler, Albeit Without The Glory Of A Hornblower Or The Class Of A Ramage. Needle Grimly And Accurately Portrays Naval Existence And The Life Of The Poor As Dirty, Cruel And Ruthless Scenes Of Young Whores Having Their Teeth Pulled Out To Make Impromptu Dentures For The Wealthy Are Particularly Graphic, As Is The Brutish Treatment Of Women Overall. Expectedly, Needle's Conclusion Is Vague And Unfulfilling, Leaving Scores Of Loose Ends To Be Tidied Up In The Next Book In The Series. (apr.) Fyi: Needle Has Written Four Novels Under The Name Frank Kippax. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

It is March 1811, and Richard Bolitho is recalled to duty after only two and a half months of precious peace in Cornwall with his beloved mistress Catherine. Promoted Admiral, his choice of flagship and flag captain shock the Admiralty, but Bolitho, poignantly aware of his own vulnerabilitiy, surrounds himself only with those men he can trust completely: the faithful Allday, the withdrawn and intelligent Avery, and James Tyacke, who must confront the sternest test of his loyalty with great personal courage. When diplomacy fails the cannon must speak, and Bolitho, patrolling the troubled waters from Antigua north to Halifax, knows that when war with America comes he must fight an enemy not foreign but familiar, for the freedom to leave the sea forever. "Under sealed orders for a long, arduous voyage, Captain Daniel Swift must forge an efficient crew from the ragged group, the old and the weak, criminals, and young boys he commands. Thanks to his own evil reputation and wretched wartime conditions, only the most desperate will join his ship Welfare. To make up the numbers, he must resort to press gangs."--Back cover

Midshipman William Bentley awaits trial on charges of treason—until he is offered the chance to avoid prison by serving as first lieutenant to Richard Kaye, now captain of Will's old ship Biter. Will accepts and begins a harrowing journey to Jamaica, unaware that the woman he loves has been sold as an indentured servant to a depraved Jamaican planter.

Young William Bently, survivor of the bloddy Welfare mutiny, reluctantly resumes his naval career as an officer on the press tender Biter. The Impress Service is the most reviled part of the Navy - carrying on the legal kidnapping of seamen to fill his majesty's war-strapped ships March 1811. Admiral Richard Bolitho is once again summoned to London from Cornwall. In defence of an Empire, the Admiralty must quell the unrest in America or face war with those who were once friends It is March 1811, and Bolitho is promoted to Admiral but his choice of flagship and flag captain shock the Admiralty