"To Glory We Steer was published in 1968, and was such a sucess that the publicity director of Hutchinson suggested I should map out (roughly) Richard Bolitho's life from birth to death so it could be used on a bookmark, each bookmark to be updated on the publication of a new novel. Not an easy job, I might add, so I sat down and worked it all out, the essential parts of his career. I chose his date of birth with care because as he matures it leads him through the most interesting time in naval history, so he wouldn't be too young or too old at any point, like the American and French revolutions and the Battle of Trafalgar."