The Cruise of the Thetis: A Tale of the Cuban Insurrection
1909
London, 1890. Carlos Montijo, son of a wealthy Cuban tobacco planter, has returned from the Caribbean with urgent business: the rebellion against Spanish rule needs weapons, and he's brought a specially constructed yacht to deliver them. His old English friend Jack Singleton agrees to captain the vessel, becoming the nominal owner of a ship designed for one purpose only: to run a blockade and arm an insurrection. What follows is a white-knuckle passage across the Atlantic, where two young men must outwit Spanish naval patrols, navigate treacherous waters, and keep their nerve when the stakes could not be higher. Collingwood delivers everything adventure fiction promises: a sturdy ship, a daring mission, and the bond between two friends facing danger together. Yet beneath the excitement lies something substantive: a window into Cuba's real fight for independence, the costs of colonial rule, and the courage of those who risked everything for freedom. This is adventure with a cause.
