Three Cassettes, 5 hrs. 15 min. abridged

Performance by Tim Pigott-Smith

Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are back in the 16th installment in Patrick O'Brian's bestselling series.

At the outset of this adventure, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin pursue a heavy American privateer through the Great South Sea. Their ship, the Surprise, is now also a privateer, the better to escape diplomatic complications from Stephen's mission, which is to ignite the revolutionary tinder of South America. Jack will survive a desperate open-boat journey and come face to face with his illegitimate black son: Stephen, caught up in the aftermath of his failed coup, will flee for his life into the high, frozen wastes of the Andes: and Patrick O'Brian's brilliantly detailed narrative will reuinte them at last in a breathtaking chase through storm seas and icebergs south of Cape Horn.