Storm & Conquest
by Stephen Taylor
Faber, HK$144
Stephen Taylor's Storm & Conquest, about the 1809 British battle for the Indian Ocean, deserves a read even if historical naval adventures don't normally make it to your bedside table. The characters are a strong reason for its readability, as is the story that drives the book: the British scheme to capture Ile de France (now Mauritius) and Bourbon (Reunion), which would guarantee the safe passage from Bengal of East India Company ships carrying saltpetre. The substance was the main ingredient in gunpowder, which Wellington needed in large quantities to defeat Napoleon's troops in Portugal. Taylor feeds into the tale drama in the form of hurricanes and combat, on the water and on board. A memorable captain, Robert Corbet, who led the successful raid on Bourbon, was also a cruel disciplinarian given to flogging his men: they staged a mutiny. Other players include George Barlow, the unimpressive governor of Madras, and Matthew Flinders, who circumnavigated Australia from 1801 to 1803. He was interned by the French after stopping at Ile de France for repairs. It would be seven years before he saw his wife again. Taylor creatively describes the ordeal of all involved in the fight for supremacy. His cast and setting are as good as any novelist could conjure.
