Mr Fitton's Commission

Discharged from active duty after the signing of the peace treaty with France in 1801 Michael Fitton is married and eking out a living as a farmer when he is called back into service with the Royal Navy as Britain embarks on war with France once more. Hoping to be sent into active service in the Mediterranean or the Channel - where the possibility of earning his Lieutenant's commission is high - Fitton is disappointed when he is sent instead back to the West Indies where he is placed in command of the schooner Gipsy. However, never one to turn his back on his duty, Fitton embraces life at sea again and soon finds himself back capturing privateer ships and engaging in daring sea battles. Putting all his knowledge, skills and courage to the test Fitton once again proves himself to be a master seaman. Surely, this time, he will finally earn that longed for commission to become Lieutenant Fitton? Mr Fitton's Commission was first published in 1977.

Showell Styles was born Frank Showell Styles in 1908. His childhood was spent in the Welsh hills and he became an avid mountaineer and explorer. During the war, Styles joined the Navy and was posted in the Mediterranean, but even there he walked and climbed as much as he could. An aspiring writer, Styles already had articles published in Punch, before setting out toe make his living as an author. His first novel, Traitor's Mountain, was a murder mystery set on and around Tryfan in Wales. He became a prolific writer with over 160 books published. As well as books on mountains such as The Mountaineer's Weekend Book, he wrote detective fiction under the pseudonym of Glyn Carr, and humorous pieces as C.L. Inker. Showell Styles died in 2005.