I'm the author of Gentleman Captain, the first in a new series of naval and historical fiction - 'The Journals of Matthew Quinton' - set in the seventeenth century. This is a little known but hugely important period in naval history: it saw some of the largest battles of the sailing age, the beginnings of a professional navy, the evolution of the 'line of battle' and a number of dramatic historical events, such as the Plague of 1665, the Great Fire of London and the Dutch attack on the Medway in 1667, debatably the greatest defeat in British history. It was the age of Charles II, of Samuel Pepys, of Isaac Newton - and of my fictional hero, Matthew Quinton, a young man suddenly given command of a warship despite knowing nothing whatsoever about the sea. His story is founded on the very real experiences of those who found themselves in exactly that position - the 'gentlemen captains' of the Restoration age.

This is a new departure for me, as my previous work has mainly been academic research and writing set within the same period of history. My prize-winning survey of the late seventeenth century navy, Pepys's Navy: Ships, Men and Warfare 1649-89, was published in 2008. I'm currently Chairman of the Naval Dockyards Society and a Vice-President of the Navy Records Society. I'm also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, a member of the Council of the Society for Nautical Research, and a member of Yr Academi Gymreig / The Welsh Academy.

NEWS

Gentleman Captain has received exceptionally positive pre-publication reviews in the USA, including a very rare starred review in Kirkus - details here. Houghton Mifflin's North American edition of Gentleman Captain will be published on 13 October.

I'm now writing two blogs - the existing 'View From the Lair' on my writing, reading and other activities, plus a naval history blog for Ian Allan.

The mass market paperback edition of Gentleman Captain was published in the UK on 6 April 2010. This is available from all good bookstores as well as online.

My first non-naval book, Blood of Kings: The Stuarts, The Ruthvens and the 'Gowrie Conspiracy', is to be published by Ian Allan on 1 December 2010. Further information is available here.