BATEAU a VAPEUR

Teenager Ian Fletcher witnesses the murder of his parents during the Scottish Highland clearances in the late 18th century.

Vowing revenge against the English he is taken in by an uncle, trained and educated and becomes an assistant to one of Scotland's leading steam engineer. He befriends a French prisoner of war and they escape to France where with the help of a renegade naval officer they build the first steam-sail warship. He sees action on both sides of the Atlantic culminating in the war of 1812's Battle of New Orleans. He founds the first steam-sail commercial shipping line and enters the race to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic.

A ripping good naval yarn with a touch of romance and historical what ifs?