Patrick OBrians Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely hailed as the greatest series of historical novels ever written. All eighteen books are to be re-issued in hardback by HarperCollins with stunning new jackets. Patrick OBrian is now recognised as the greatest historical novelist writing in English. He has been described variously as Jane Austen sur mer and the greatest novelist youve never read. But at last he is enjoying the recognition he deserves with huge media interest in both him and his books. All the elements that have made Patrick OBrians astonishing series one of the most highly praised works in contemporary fiction are here in Clarissa Oakes the narrative grip, the impeccable ear for dialogue, the humour and the unsurpassed capacity to create and recreate a rich and true friendship between two men in the late eighteenth-century.