The Reverse of the Medal

The Reverse of the Medal, (1986) is a historical novel and eleventh in the Aubrey-Maturin series. It was first published by HarperCollins in 1986. In July 2009, Russell Crowe told the Associated Press that this book would make up the bulk of a second Master & Commander film, but there was no word on a director, cast, or if the film would even happen. Jack and the Surprises have made their way in a much knocked-about Surprise from the South Seas t... more

The Reverse of the Medal, (1986) is a historical novel and eleventh in the Aubrey-Maturin series. It was first published by HarperCollins in 1986. In July 2009, Russell Crowe told the Associated Press that this book would make up the bulk of a second Master & Commander film, but there was no word on a director, cast, or if the film would even happen. Jack and the Surprises have made their way in a much knocked-about Surprise from the South Seas to the West Indies Squadron lying off Bridgetown. Here Jack meets his bastard black son, Samuel Panda, a student Catholic priest. His mother was Sally Mpata for whom Jack, as a youngster on HMS Resolution, was turned before the mast by his Captain for having stored her secretly in the cable-tiers. Whilst returning to England, the Surprise gives chase to the Spartan, a US privateer, which manages to escape in a squall for Brest. Aubrey — whose financial circumstances remain unsatisfactorily complicated — hears a rumour from a stranger he meets... less