Chains Of Albion

Reluctant hero Martin Jerrold returns in his second swashbuckling adventure in the vein of Flashman and Sharpe.

'The Chains of Albion is a cracking book. Fast-paced, exciting and funny'

CONN IGGULDEN, author of the bestselling 'Emperor' novels

'At last, the nautical Flashman! Martin Jerrold looks set to become one of the great British anti-heroes, boozing and lusting his way through Regency England'

'Will fill the gaping hole stoved in the timbers of the sea-saga genre by the sad death of Patrick O'Brian...Jerrold swashes his buckles and splices his mainbraces to good effect'

'Rip-roaring...a rollicking yarn with razor-sharp dialogue, introducing a hilarious protagonist'

Edwin Thomas was born in 1977 and grew up in West Germany, Belgium and America before returning to England to study history at Lincoln College, Oxford. He now lives in London with his wife. The first instalment of the adventures of Martin Jerrold, The Blighted Cliffs, was runner-up for the CWA Début Dagger Award and is also available in Bantam paperback. The third instalment of the adventures of Martin Jerrold, Treason's River, will be published in Spring 2006.

July 1806. Commanding a prison hulk full of French captives, Lieutenant Martin Jerrold thinks his war can't get much better. He's far away from the more life threatening aspects of naval service and he can keep his mistress close to hand. It all seems too good to last. 
And so it proves. When one of the prisoners goes missing, Jerrold's comfortable world is suddenly turned upside down. Ordered by the First Lord of the Admiralty to recapture the Frenchman at any cost, he finds himself racing across England: from the stinking marshes of Chatham to the wilds of Dartmoor and the fashionable resort of Brighton. 
But what makes this prisoner so damned important? At the Post Office, Jerrold's old friend Mr Nevell is curious; so too are politicians from either side, including the cunning Tory leader Spencer Perceval. Even the seductive Princess Caroline takes an unexpected interest. 
As Jerrold - dogged by his usual bad timing, bad luck and bad behaviour - closes in on his elusive quarry, he uncovers a devilish web of treachery and deceit stretching back twenty years and ensnaring the most exalted members of society. And in hot pursuit are those who will stop at nothing to stop him...

The Blighted Cliffs

Move over Harry Flashman, there's a new cad in town! The first in the Martin Jerrold series of historical adventure novels in the vein of Flashman and Sharpe.

'This is a great book, exciting and utterly unique. Edwin Thomas's portrayal of the 18th Century is spot on, from his depiction of the smugglers' underworld to life aboard a small British navy man-of-war. And while other writers have achieved the same, Thomas has created in Lt. Martin Jerrold someone whom the reader of nautical fiction has never seen before - a character we love despite ourselves, and despite his many faults, faults to which he himself happy admits. Jerrold is no dashing and fearless naval hero, he revels in and celebrates his own shortcomings and ineptitude and he takes us happily along on that wild and hilarious ride. For the lover of naval fiction, historical fiction, mysteries, this book has it all. I eagerly await the next.'

Edwin Thomas grew up in West Germany, Belgium and America before returning to England to study history at Lincoln College, Oxford. His conclusion to the short story 'Death by the Invisible Hand' was published in The Economist in 1997, and the first chapter of The Blighted Cliffs was runner-up in the 2001 Crime Writers' Association Début Dagger Award for new fiction.  The first two installments of the adventures of Martin Jerrold, The Blighted Cliffs and The Chains of Albion, are available in Bantam paperback.

Not many men emerged from Trafalgar without an ounce of credit to their names, but courtesy of an over-fondness for rum and his habitual bad luck, Lieutenant Martin Jerrold managed it. In February 1806, he is given one final chance to redeem his reputation and dispatched to Dover. 
 
Things don't augur well when, walking off the effects of a night in the tavern, Jerrold stumbles across a corpse lying on the beach. And they take a distinct turn for the worst when, to his horror and bemusement, he is suspected of murder. With a captain who despises him, and the local magistrate determined to see him hang, he knows clearing his name will require an imporbable reversal of his miserable fortunes. Somewhere in Dover's twisted streets, someone must know something. But Jerrold soon discovers that nothing is as it seems in a town where smuggling is a way of life, where everyone from the fishermen to the colonel of dragoons drinks only the finest French brandy... 
 
Distrusted by his superiors, set upon by suspiciously well-informed thugs and attacked by the French at sea, Jerrold does find some sympathy in the less-than-respectable arms of the comely Isobel, but he knows he has but two weeks to save his skin - or perish in the attempt.

Edwin Thomas

Conn Iggulden, author of The Dangerous Book for Boys

Will fill the gaping hole stoved in the timbers of the sea-saga genre by the sad death of Patrick O'Brian

At last, the nautical Flashman! Martin Jerrold looks set to become one of the great British anti-heroes, boozing and lusting his way through Regency England.

Thomas has created in Lt Martin Jerrold someone whom the reader of nautical fiction has never seen before - a character we love despite ourselves, and despite his many faults, faults to which he himself happily admits. Jerrold is no dashing and fearless naval hero, he revels in and celebrates his own shortcomings and ineptitude and he takes us happily along on that wild and hilarious ride. For the lover of naval fiction, historical fiction mysteries, this book has it all. I eagerly await the next.

August, 1806. As Britain fights alone against France, the greatest political chancer of his age hatches an audacious plot to upend the world order. Only one man stands in his way. Unfortunately, that man is Lieutenant Martin Jerrold. 
 
With powerful enemies in England to escape, Jerrold is only too happy to undertake a routine mission to America. But he'll soon wish he had stayed at home, as his journey takes him across pirate-infested seas, through the wilderness of the American frontier and down the mighty Mississippi river - into the heart of an extraordinary conspiracy. 
 
The stakes are high - the entire future of Britain's war against Napoleon rests in his not-so-capable hands. One wrong move and the consequences will be catastrophic, even by Jerrold's own dismal standards.

Edwin Thomas

Praise for Treason's River

Fast paced, exciting and funny.

Will fill the gaping hole stoved in the timbers of the sea-saga genre by the sad death of Patrick O'Brian

At last, the nautical Flashman! Martin Jerrold looks set to become one of the great British anti-heroes, boozing and lusting his way through Regency England.

Fast paced, exciting and funny.

Will fill the gaping hole stoved in the timbers of the sea-saga genre by the sad death of Patrick O'Brian

At last, the nautical Flashman! Martin Jerrold looks set to become one of the great British anti-heroes, boozing and lusting his way through Regency England.

Fast paced, exciting and funny.

Will fill the gaping hole stoved in the timbers of the sea-saga genre by the sad death of Patrick O'Brian

At last, the nautical Flashman! Martin Jerrold looks set to become one of the great British anti-heroes, boozing and lusting his way through Regency England.

Books by Edwin Thomas

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