No fiction writer of the modern period has captured the world of wooden walls, broadsides and the press gang in quite the same way as the late Patrick O'Brian. The twenty books in the O'Brian 'canon', featuring the lives and adventures of Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and confidant, the naval surgeon, Stephen Maturin, are read and lauded across the world for their blend of classic storytelling, historical scholarly accuracy and consistently inspired characterisation. In this new volume, written by one of the most respected naval historians of his generation, Brian Lavery sets forward the historical framework of the Aubrey-Maturin series of novels. He explores the historical fact behind the grand narrative and fully contextualises a number of key episodes as well as the minutiae of naval life in the era of Nelson and Napoleon, as it is put forward in these enduring sea stories. Jack Aubrey Commands is published as a tie-in to the forthcoming dramatisation of the series directed by Peter Weir and starring Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey. It is understood that Peter Weir bought copies of Brian Lavery's bestselling Nelson's Navy for the actors to consult in preparation for the film.