At home again, Jack has come into money and his family life is flourishing – the age-old problem of mothers-in-law is still there, but not as problematic as before. Stephen arrives as news that Jack has a new command, The Leopard, bound for the East Indies, reaches Jack.

The Admiralty sees fit to equip it also with some convicts sentenced to transportation, so that a visit to Australia will be needed. En route The Leopard encounters a strange fever and has a number of skirmishes with the Dutch ship Waakzaamheid ("Vigilance") until a collision with an ice-berg severely damages The Leopard. Abandoned by parts of the crew Jack manages to reach Desolation Island (I believed this to be Kerguelen, a French possession, but a conversation in The Thirteen-Gun Salute reveals that this is not so) in the southern part of the Indian Ocean. All the time, Stephen guards one of the convicts, a beautful lady of dubious connections, reminiscent of Diana Villiers.

This edition contains a 20-page scholarly historical essay, The Naval World of Jack Aubrey, from Patrick O'Brian: Critical Essays and a Bibliography.

Having managed to repair, Jack and his ship arrives in the Dutch East Indies, where the ship is found to be in such a condition that is used as a transport. Receiving a new command, Jack and Stephen sails as passengers in a despatch wessel for England. En route the War of 1812 breaks out, and eventually they find themselves as American prisoners of war. Their ingenuity finds them a way out, with a well-known lady.

This edition contains a small piece by O'Brian, telling some of his life history and the history of his writing, from Patrick O'Brian: Critical Essays and a Bibliography.

Having escaped the Americans, Jack, Stephen and Diana find themselves in Nova Scotia. Despite being followed they make their way to England, where Jack and Stephen are sent into the Baltic. On the way home, they are made prisoners of war by the French, spending many days in "The Temple" in Paris.

This edition also contains an essay on the novels by the editor who accepted the first novel for publication, after other publishers had turned it down.

Jack has been made captain of a ship sent to reinforce the blockade of Toulon, but soon they are sent eastwards in order to maintain British interests in the sphere of the Ottoman empire.

This edition also contains a small review of the series, In which we serve by John Bailey, previously published in The New York Review of Books, November 1991.

Sitting in Malta, awaiting repairs to their ship, Stephen and Jack is entangled in a web of rumours and plots of treason. They get sent off on a mission in the Red Sea, having to go by land across Suez. Will they accomplish their mission, or has rumour preceded them?

In this edition, Louis Jolyon West has an interesting essay on The Medical World of Dr Stephen Maturin, giving a historical background to O'Brian's stories of Stephen's work.

En route for Britain, Jack and his HMS Surprise is sent on an expedition to protect whalers in the South Atlantic and the Pacific from an American frigate, the Norfolk.

This edition contains, like the 3rd book, a small essay, Arms and the Man, by Charlton Heston, giving his personal impression of the novels, the language and some of the major characters.

Returning from the South Seas to Britain with some prize money, Jack Aubrey is tempted into the stock market. This leaves him open to severe critizism, ending with his being dismissed from the Royal Navy.

This edition contains a small essay, Patrick O'Brian, by William Waldegrave, giving his personal impression of the novels and O'Brian's writing.

Jack Aubrey, no more an officer of the Royal Navy, sets out as a private man-of-war. Stephen Maturin, having inherited wealth, buys the old Surprise when it is decommissioned by the navy. Their old crew-members volunteer to man the ship, and they all set out hunting for prizes. And it is not without reason Jack has been called "Lucky Jack Aubrey" all his time.

This edition contains, like the 4th book, an essay on Jack Aubrey's Ships, from Patrick O'Brian: Critical Essays and a Bibliography.

This edition contains, like the sixth book, a small piece by O'Brian, telling some of his life history and the history of his writing, from Patrick O'Brian: Critical Essays and a Bibliography.

The Surprise, with Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, pursues enemy ships in the Pacific en route to South America, where Stephen has orders to seek out likely partners in a plot to throw the Spanish out of some of their colonies.

This edition, like the 8th book, also contains a small review of the series, In which we serve by John Bailey, previously published in The New York Review of Books, November 1991.

Having returned home, Jack Aubrey finally makes the next step on the ladder and is promoted commodore. There is much to sort out at home, not at least for Stephen Maturin; Diana has fled from home and left their daughter Brigid with Clarissa Oakes and the servants.

Jack receives orders to command a squadron of ships going to West Africa to harrass the slave trade, but also to lay in wait for a convoy of French ships.

This edition, like the 1st book, contains a small piece on O'Brian and the novels, The Winning Post at Last, previously published in the Spectator.

This edition contains a speech made at a dinner in honour of O'Brian.

Napoleon having been defeated, Jack Aubrey again finds himself and his men on their way to South America.

Ostensibly on a hydrographical expedition, they fight for the Chileans in their struggle for freedom.

Finally, Jack receives his admiralship.

Blue at the Mizzen ends with Jack and Stephen on their way to new adventures. It is obvious that O'Brian must have had designs for further books, neither the careers or family and love lives of Jack and Stephen had reached their conclusion. It is sad that these further books never will come (but have a look at book 21).