The Thirteen-Gun Salute

Jack is back in the Navy with the captured frigate Diane. His job is to carry envoy Edward Fox to Pulo Prabang, a Malay sultanate, to win the sultan over as an ally against France. At Pulo Prabang, Stephen helps Fox against the French mission, which includes the traitors Ledward and Wray, and visits the orangutans of a volcanic crater. The two traitors are exposed, banished and later murdered. The treaty is signed, but Fox grows more arrogant by the day. On the way to Batavia, the Diane hits a hidden reef and can't be refloated. A typhoon destroys the stranded Diane, and the crew starts building a vessel to get off the island.

1. ReferenceAn 1817 wreck

   The reef wreck and what follows may draw on the loss of HMS Alceste, which hit an uncharted reef in the Gaspar Strait in 1817.

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2. Behind the scenes"The best historical novels"

   Richard Snow of The New York Times called the series "the best historical novels ever written," a line that helped win over American readers.

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