'The Reverse of the Medal' is in all respects an unconventional naval tale. Jack Aubrey returns from his duties protecting whalers off South America and is persuaded by a casual acquaintance to make investments in the City on the strength of supposedly certain information. From there he is led into the half worlds of the London criminal underground and of government espionage – the province of his friend, Stephen Maturin, on whom alone he can rely.

Those who are already devoted fans of Patrick O’ Brian will find here all the brilliance of characterisation and sparkle of dialogue which they have come to expect. For those who listen to him for the first time there will be the pleasure of discovering, quite unexpectedly, a novelist of unique character.

“…Robert Hardy has a consummate knack of giving timbre and atmosphere to everything he reads.”
'Time Out'

Reviews

‘Brilliant’
London Review of Books

‘These books are works of scholarship, classics of contemporary literature, joys to read. Savour The Reverse of the Medal – and seek out its predecessors. You rob yourself by neglecting them.’
Western Morning News

‘Taken together the novels are a brilliant achievement. They display staggering erudition on almost all aspects of early nineteenth-century life, with impeccable period detail.’
T.J. Binyon, Times Literary Supplement