Mr Midshipman Easy: Captain Marryat

This story is set during the Napoleonic Wars ( in which Marryat himself served with distinction). Easy is the son of foolish parents, who spoil him. His father, in particular, regards himself as a philosopher, with a firm belief in the rights of man and equality. By the time he is a teenager Easy has adopted his father's point of view, to the point where he no longer believes in private property. He joins the navy, which his father believes to be the best example of an equal society, and Easy becomes friendly with a lower deck seaman named Mesty (Mephistopheles) an escaped slave and former prince of Africa. He has to pull Easy out of several scrapes the impulsive 17-year-old gets himself into as he cruises the Mediterranean on several British ships. Can Easy become a competent officer and a mature man?