No need to look at this book unless you are a big O'Brian fan or a completist. It's interesting to see his handwritten pages with his typewritten copy juxtaposed. Aubrey's son Sam makes an appearance, and later on Sophie and his daughters actually come aboard along with Stephen's fiance and his daughter. The last 10 pages are just handwritten, there's no typed copy. I had a terrible time making it out so I turned to www.hmssurprise.org, a wonderful O'Brian fan site, and found the transcriptions - there's a duel between Stephen and a captain. You can see the makings of another exciting novel, sadly unfinished. But I am so glad my friend talked me into reading this series many years ago, they are such great books.

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