First edition, first printing (true first). 284pp. Green cloth boards with red lettering on spine. (Boards slightly rounded at corners and spine tips. Text block edges a little toned, some faint occasional spotting on prelims, else bright, neat and clean internally. In its original price clipped dust jacket (a little rubbed and bumped at edges, mild shelf wear). DJ now protected in archival-quality mylar wrapper. O'Brian, known for his Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin novels, here presents an anti-hero in Richard Temple, born a misfit, a man who betrays his principles and his full of apparent contradictions.
