Episode 239 - Desolation Island (Part 6)

As HMS Leopard runs south toward the Cape, Jack Aubrey prepares to meet a superior enemy. We encounter  seabirds, superstitions, social diseases and substance abuse, and Stephen gets personal with Midshipman Herapath.

We welcome historian and author Peter Moore to discuss his new book, Dangerous Game: Thomas Cochrane’s Life on the Edge. Peter dives deep into the real-life naval hero who inspired Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey.  Discover fresh archival revelations, the complex family dynamics shaping Cochrane's ambitions, his controversial 1814 stock exchange trial, and forgotten exploits from chemical warfare plans to daring night actions. Plus, we explore Peter's own journey into O’Brian’s fiction and the creative craft of naval biography.

The crew of the Leopard go through hell and out the other side. We have disease and despair, a finely-honed intelligence coup, an escape to higher ground, and a fascinating detour into the 18th-century literary and theological easter eggs hidden in Louisa Wogan’s cabin. Grab a slice of iced pudding and settle in!

We get a thickening of the plot with Louisa Wogan and her lover Herapath; plants everywhere to be paid off in this book and later ones; idyllic sailing time, Old Adam, a saintly cleric, decomposed puffins, and Stephen's nemesis finally declares itself as he gathers allies.    

There's death below decks, a stowaway, rats and a dog, Stephen stepping up as surgeon and spy (despite his Jonesing), an introduction to the wardroom, classical poets, toasted cheese and Corelli in C Major.

 Jack and Stephen get some help from their friends, Stephen navigates the highs and lows of London street life, and we discover what's been happening to Diana Villiers.  To cap it all, Stephen and Jack are persuaded that the best place for them is at sea.

Desolation Island opens with bucolic absurdity - we’ve got Jack Aubrey on ‘Fiddler’s Green’, Stephen dissecting a fresh cadaver's hands before dinner, a catastrophic get-rich-quick scheme, and Jane Austen-style fibbing from almost everyone. Grab a glass of port and mind your poke—we're getting the band back together.

The pieces fall into place for the final stages of the invasion of Mauritius - we find out how that’s all going to play out! Plus resolution for Stephen, a boiled baby for Tom Pullings, grief and anger for McAdam, un-earned glory for Admiral Bertie, and a delightful piece of news from home for Jack Aubrey.

After flexing his brain surgery skills, Stephen is off to subvert the catholics of Mauritius, but gets a nasty dunking. Jack Aubrey has a chance to take on Commodore Hamelin on equal terms.

They're all at it: Jack Aubrey summons his resilience, Tom Pullings summons himself, and fate summons a familiar captain back to the waters off Mauritius.  We’re going to have cat-and-mouse pursuits, false dawns, anti-climaxes and yet another blood-soaked action at sea, with a hidden clue as to the fate awaiting one of our main characters.