Stephen Taylor's Storm and Conquest gives readers an entry point into the dispersed commerce war in the Indian Ocean during 1809. Its narrow time frame gives the theater unusual depth. The region did not normally receive the largest ships of the line, while its biggest merchant hulls were East Indiamen. That local balance made mistaken identity more plausible than it might seem from a European battlefleet perspective.
Notable Point · 3:35-4:44
A source for the Napoleonic War in the Indian Ocean
Stephen Taylor's Storm and Conquest is recommended as an accessible way into the Indian Ocean war of 1809 and the setting in which East Indiamen could be mistaken for warships.