The Mauritius Command

Stephen Maturin brings Captain Jack Aubrey secret orders to lead an expedition against the French islands of Mauritius and La Reunion, but the conduct of two of his own officers threatens the success of the mission.

Can Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew defy the odds, and outmanoeuvre the French, to take two small but vital islands in the Indian Ocean?

Captain Jack Aubrey is ashore on half-pay without a command, until his friend an occassional intelligence agent Stephen Maturin arrives with secret orders for Aubrey to take a frigate to the Cape of Good Hope.

On Desolation Island, with the known world out of reach, uneasy alliances are sometimes forged...

Set sail for the read of your life! Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. Now these evocative stories are being re-issued in paperback by Harper Perennial with stunning new jackets.

Whether close to home or far away, there are no safe harbours while Napoleon seeks to dominate the known world.

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. Now these evocative stories are being re-issued in paperback by Harper Perennial with stunning new jackets.

In this fairly far-fetched fairy tale, a plucky little girl named Gremlin and her brother, Zeppelin, leave their childhood home - a woodsman's cottage, of course - in the kingdom of Etaoin and set out to see the world. Clambering through an enchanted forest and navigating pirate-infested seas en route to the Royal Palace (where a drastic change of circumstance awaits), they encounter a host of quirky characters beyond anything the Brothers Grimm ever imagined. Yes, there are knights (good and evil), a giant and the requisite fairy godmother. But there's also an inn full of doom-and-gloom beatniks, a peevish wombat, a poet whose limericks probe the meaning of life and a flightless parrot who spouts Latin. Anything but a fainthearted waif, Gremlin takes surprises and setbacks in stride, retaining her innocence and good humour all the while. DuPre Jones's witty, clever and decidedly grown-up text full of puns, double entendres, literary references and sly characterisations of human foibles - coupled with pen-and-ink illustrations by renowned artist Edward Gorey - makes The Adventures of Gremlin a devilishly fun read for adults, as well as a welcome update to the Gorey illustration canon.