A gripping historical adventure from the author of the Nicholas Everard naval thrillers.
It is the summer of 1904 and Tsar Nicholas II is sending his Baltic fleet – a ragtag bunch of old crooks, untrained, potentially mutinous crews and hopelessly inefficient officers – halfway around the world to reinforce his few remaining ships in the Far East. Here the Japanese fleet under Admiral Togo has been scoring success after success against the Russians.
Michael Henderson, a lieutenant caught in a forbidden tryst with the young Princess Natasha Volodnyakova on the eve of her engagement party to another man, is offered the dubious honour of sailing as an observer to Tsushima, where one of the most devastating sea battles in history will be waged. Unable to refuse, Henderson will need all his wits, and a good measure of luck, if he wants to survive…
Floating Madhouse is a masterpiece of historic and military detail, ideal for fans of Douglas Reeman and Philip McCutchan.
Alexander Fullerton was a bestselling author of British naval fiction, whose writing career spanned over fifty years. He served with distinction as gunnery and torpedo officer of HM Submarine Seadog during World War Two. He was a fluent Russian speaker, and after the war served in Germany as the Royal Navy liaison with the Red Army.
His first novel, Surface!, was written on the backs of old cargo manifests. It sold over 500,000 copies and needed five reprints in six weeks. Fullerton is perhaps best known though for his nine-volume Nicholas Everard series, which was translated into many languages, winning him fans all round the world. His fiftieth novel, Submariner, was published in 2008, the year of his death.