Events from the first stirrings of the slave revolution in Haiti in 1789, through the wars at sea of the French Revolution and Napoleon and the War of 1812 are presented through the stories of two adventurous young naval officers, William Henry Allen of the U.S. Navy and John Fordyce Maples of the Royal Navy. We are drawn into the heady and profitable prize-taking exploits of the British Navy in the West Indies, where frigate captains became rich and witness Britain's disastrous invasion of Haiti and the anguish and frustration of the British defeat by Toussaint Louverture and yellow fever.

Through Henry Allen's eyes we see the infant U.S. Navy gain strength, confidence, and tradition in the Barbary Wars. With John Maples we see Nelson at Copenhagen and Trafalgar and British sea power put a stop to Napoleon's plans for a French empire in Louisiana and the American West - plans that would have crippled the young United States.

Promoted to captain of the U.S. Brig Argus, Allen is ordered on a commerce-destroying foray into Britain's home waters. At first highly successful, the Argus is brought to battle by H.M. Brig Pelican, under the command of John Maples. T he book's protagonists finally meet in a sea fight. The Argus is defeated, Allen mortally wounded, and his men taken prisoner.