Monsoon by Smith Wilbur

It is the dawn of the eighteenth century. At the farthest edges of the known world, the mighty East India Trading Company suffers catastrophic losses from pirates of the high seas. After four years away from service, master mariner Sir Hal Courtney prepares for his latest and most dangerous voyage - a death or glory mission in the name of the Empire and the Crown. Monsoon is Wilbur Smith's extraordinary tenth Courtney novel: a story of anger and passion, of peace and war. Action, romance and adventure shape a family's destiny as they contest a prize beyond any of their wildest dreams . . . 'Let yourself be blown away by the hurricane of storytelling that is Monsoon . . . a fantastic reading experience' Sunday Times 'Wilbur Smith is one of those benchmarks against whom others are compared' The Times