Blue at the Mizzen (novel #20) ended with Jack Aubrey getting the
news, in Chile, of his elevation to flag rank: Rear Admiral of the Blue
Squadron, with orders to sail to the South Africa station. The next
novel, unfinished and untitled at the time of the author's death, would
have been the chronicle of that mission, and much else besides. The
three chapters left on O'Brian's desk are presented here both in printed
version-including his corrections to the typescript-and a facsimile of
his manuscript, which goes several pages beyond the end of the
typescript to include a duel between Stephen Maturin and an impertinent
officer who is courting his fiancée.
Of course we would rather have had the whole story; instead we have this
proof that O'Brian's powers of observation, his humor, and his
understanding of his characters were undiminished to the end.
Includes a Facsimile of the Manuscript.