His Majesty's frigate Macedonian was launched in 1810, at the height of the Napoleonic wars, and burned in Manhattan in 1922. Captured by the Americans in 1812, the ship became a symbol of pride for the American navy, and served prominently in the liberation of Latin America, the war against the slave trade, the Irish potato famine, and the American Civil War. The story of the ship, told in this book, is full of battles, chases, and one near-mutiny, and also represents the story of gunboat diplomacy which defined international relations in the 19th century.