Nicholas Monsarrat

Based on his own experience of serving at sea in World War Two, Nicholas Monsarrat tells the story of the HMS Compass Rose and her crew, who face a long and brutal battle on the Atlantic Ocean.

In this, Nicholas Monsarrat's masterpiece, Lawe represents the spirit of maritime exploration and fortitude; his life is the thread stringing together a long history of nautical adventure. Written in two volumes, the first of which appeared in 1978, the story encompasses the full extent of maritime development, beginning with Sir Francis Drake abandoning a game of bowls to fight the great crescent of the Spanish fleet, to the opening in 1960 of the...