Captain Paul

“I watched John Paul Jones flash like a flaming meteor across the dark days of our struggle for independence.”

1773. 

When Tom Folger’s father is lost during a whaling expedition, the young Nantucketer is forced to put aside thoughts of his printer’s apprenticeship to support his mother.

In keeping with the family’s sea-faring tradition, he joins a whaler’s crew and sets out on his first cruise, but an encounter with a bull sperm whale changes everything.

Not only does Tom find himself promoted third mate, a position not without its difficulties, but it leads to a chance encounter with the enigmatic Captain Paul.

An ex-slaver and merchantman, the fugitive Scottish buccaneer’s path becomes entwined with that of Tom. With conflict brewing the two join the fledgling Continental Navy.

Through trials and tribulations, politicking and treachery, Tom sails with Captain Paul from Nassau to France and on into the home waters of the feared Royal Navy.

As the Revolutionary War rages on, a legend will be born.

With echoes of Moby Dick and Hornblower, Captain Paul is an enthralling fictional biography of John Paul Jones that vividly brings to life the brotherhood of the sea.

‘thrilling adventure tale’ – Kirkus Reviews

Edward Ellsberg (1891-1983) was a United States Navy officer, serving from 1914-26 and again from 1942-51. Retiring as a Rear Admiral, he had specialised in marine salvage and engineering. First taking up his pen in the inter-war years, he became a popular author of naval fiction and non-fiction