Admiral (Thomas Kydd Book 27)
With Admiral, the 27th novel in the Captain Sir Thomas Kydd nautical adventures, I feel very much that I have come late to the party. And reading this final instalment, I can understand why the series has garnered such high praise. The title gives a clue to the possible direction that the story will take, but there are also hints of potential misfortune from the start.
Kydd’s rise is shown in parallel to the fall of Napoleon. The novel starts with Napoleon’s German campaign culminating in his spectacular defeat at Leipzig. With Napoleon safely exiled to Elba, politicians in England decide that savings must be made to address the country’s war debt and their target is the now redundant armed forces. Kydd is horrified by this ingratitude and appalled to see his war heroes consigned to poverty and unemployment. He is personally saved from such ignominy by his unexpected appointment to Rear Admiral of the Preventive Squad, their task to patrol the West African coast intercepting slave traders. However, before he can take up his duties, news arrives that Napoleon has escaped from Elba.
Stockwin weaves a wealth of historical detail into the weft of the narrative. Not only do we follow Napoleon’s campaigns, but we experience the ensuing economic crisis and its impact on ordinary people; we hear about the slave trade, Arctic exploration and the Luddites. We see life in London for the wealthy contrasted with a more modest rural life in Devon.
While Napoleon is seen as an ogre in England, Stockwin allows us to see the other side: the charismatic military leader who could inspire such love and devotion. If I have one criticism, it is that this is a resolutely masculine world, although representative of its time; the female characters seem minor additions with little agency. But this is a small quibble in a well-told and engaging story.
