On December 21, 1916, a three-masted sailing ship slipped out of the river Weser in northern Germany. Her captain had false papers, a deliberately damaged logbook, and a young sailor with a blonde wig to pose as his wife. The ship sailed under a false flag, and even her name--the Hero--was a ruse. So begins the amazing true story of The Cruise of the Sea Eagle, Blaine Pardoe's account of Felix von Luckner, the Imperial German Navy raider, set upon the high seas to sink Britain's vital wartime supply ships during World War I.

Using sheer determination, pluck, and quick wits, von Luckner steered clear of the British Navy so as to board and sink as many merchant ships as possible. By the time a month had passed, he had already sunk three vessels. But unlike Germany's haunted submarine fleet, the gentleman pirate made room on his ship for all prisoners, and never fired a shot unless it was unavoidable.

Stealth, trickery and bravado together with the collaboration of captured prisoners in spotting new victims, all helped von Luckner's wind-powered ship overcome his more powerful enemies, providing us with a thrilling true adventure story of bluff, piracy and, above all, gentlemanly conduct on the high seas.