The first of the Alan Lewrie naval adventures is set in 1780 near the conclusion of the Revolutionary War. The seventeen-year-old Lewrie is a brash, rebellious young libertine. So much so that his callous father believes a bit of navy discipline will turn the boy around. Fresh aboard the 'Ariadne', Midshipman Lewrie heads for the war-torn Americas, finding – rather unexpectedly – that he is a born sailor, equally at home with the randy pleasures of the port and the raging battles on the high seas. 1989.