The Far Side of the World is the tenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1984. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. The story from Treason's Harbour has several points resolved, as to the success of Maturin's work identifying the French spies, the trap that Aubrey sailed out of but HMS Pollux did not, and Aubrey resolving the tension between him and Lieutenant Fielding, who escaped the worst French prisoner-of-war facility. In Gibraltar, Captain Aubrey receives another mission, to sail HMS Surprise to protect British whalers in the Pacific Ocean from USS Norfolk, for his first voyage around Cape Horn. Dr Maturin has not yet identified the high-level spy who got away. Unaware, he sends the letter to his own wife