''Balkan Glory is an epic chapter in the splendid Kydd canon, weaving knotty political gambits with stirring naval actions, expressively re-creating the often harsh reality Jack Tars witnessed within their wooden walls during the Napoleonic Wars'' - Quarterdeck
1811. The Adriatic, the ''French Lake'', is now the most valuable territory Napoleon Bonaparte possesses. Captain Sir Thomas Kydd finds his glorious return to England cut short when the Admiralty summons him to lead a squadron of frigates into these waters to cause havoc and distress to the enemy.
Kydd is dubbed ''The Sea Devil'' by Bonaparte who personally appoints one of his favourites, Dubourdieu, along with a fleet that greatly outweighs the British, to rid him of this menace.
At the same time, Nicholas Renzi is sent to Austria on a secret mission to sound out the devious arch-statesman, Count Metternich. His meeting reveals a deadly plan by Bonaparte that threatens the whole bal