With Britain at war with France, Spain and Holland, Ortho Penhale is recruited to captain a privateer for his brother’s friend Burnadick. After a disastrous assault on a Dutch man-o’-war, Penhale is imprisoned in Spain.
Ortho Penhale: Horse dealer. Smuggler. Barbary slave. Barbary lancer. Navy crewman. Slave trader. Privateer then smuggler again.
First published in 1926, The West Wind follows Ortho Penhale the fugitive as he travels across Spain heading for his beloved Cornwall. His past returns to haunt him as he embarks on his final triumphant act.