Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britains defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons. When HMS Reliant captures French frigate Amitie and seizes its precious cargoan unhatched dragon egg, a gift from the Chinese Emperor to Napoleon Bonaparte fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain futureand an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as Frances own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonapartes boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.
