The Mauritius Command

The Mauritius Command is a naval historical novel by the English writer Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1977. It is the fourth book of the Aubrey-Maturin series, which follows a Royal Navy captain and the ship's surgeon who sails with him through the Napoleonic wars.

The book begins with Aubrey on shore, married to Sophia Williams and the father of twin girls, running a cottage and a small observatory he has built himself. He is more than ready to go back to sea, and the orders Maturin brings him provide the opportunity: a convoy and a squadron, and a campaign against the French in the Indian Ocean.

O'Brian based the campaign on the real operations of 1810, and the novel follows Aubrey and Maturin as each of them works in his own line, the captain with the squadron and the intelligence agent with the information that decides where it goes. The difficulties are as much human as military, since Aubrey has to manage two subordinate captains whose failings are different in kind and are both capable of wrecking the expedition. The book was well received on publication for its period detail, and has been read since as one of the strongest of the series.