Archipelago in Flames

In the early 19th century, the Aegean Sea was not only home to beautiful islands, but also a playground for many pirate ships.

The novel takes place during the Greek uprising for independence from the rule of the Turkish Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. At that time, a young French naval officer, Henry d'Albaret, who is on the side of the Greeks, falls in love with the charming Hadjine, the daughter of a Greek banker, Elizundo, from the island of Corfu. The two young people soon get engaged and prepare for their wedding. However, the sailor Nicolas Starkos, known to be in league with the local pirates, also wants Hadjine for his wife. Their leader is the mysterious and cruel Sacratif, an ally of the Turks and a slaver who sells his own countrymen into slavery in the ports of North Africa. Starkos knows that the banker Elizundo is involved in Sacratif's slave trade and wants to gain his wealth through marriage to Hadjine.

Henry d'Albaret is tasked with ridding the Archipelago of the cruel pirate Sacratif. Whether he will succeed in this difficult task, and which of the suitors will ultimately win the hand of the beautiful Hadjine, is what the reader will discover at the end of this novel.