In this, the first volume of the historical series chronicling the progress of Lieutenant Lord Nicholas Ramage through the ranks as a Royal Navy officer, Ramage receives orders direct from Nelson himself which bring news of a mission close to his own heart. In a daring foray, under the nose of the French Mediterranean fleet, Ramage is to sail his tiny cutter close in to the Italian shore and rescue a party of stranded aristocrats from Napoleon’s fast-advancing army.