The first part of an epic trilogy that chronicles the private lives and dangerous times of England's greatest naval hero and his legendary mistress. Horatio Nelson and Emma Lyon are both determined to rise from obscurity and set about making their ways through the world with corresponding recklessness and precocious ambition. Nelson enters the Royal Navy at the age of twelve and is made post captain at the age of twenty - his reputation as a daring yet benevolent officer secured in the American War of Independence. Emma, luscious but penniless, cannily confronts her limited prospects to rise through the social ranks from teenaged bawd to nobleman's courtesan to celebrated artist's model. On a Making Tide is rich in historical detail, full of authentic sea action and offers a rare peek into London's demi-monde, where the lives of a beautiful courtesan and Britain's greatest naval hero collide.