After a decade of research, George Edmunds has finally unlocked the meaning of the mysterious cipher carved into the famous Shepherd's Monument in the grounds of the Shugborough Estate, Staffordshire, Lord Anson's ancestral home. Here, he reveals the mystery behind locating the Treasure hidden by a Spanish Captain-General.

Despite a supreme belief in itself, the Royal Navy of the early eighteenth century was becoming over-confident and outdated, and it had more than its share of disasters and miscarriages including the devastating sickness in Admiral Hosier’s fleet in 1727; failure at Cartagena, and an embarrassing action off Toulon in 1744\. Anson’s great circumnavigation, though presented as a triumph, was achieved at huge cost in ships and lives. And in 1756 Admiral Byng was shot after failure off Minorca. In this new book, the bestselling author Brian Lavery shows how, through reforms and the determined focus of a number of personalities, that navy was transformed in the middle years of the eighteenth century. The tide had already begun to turn with victories off Cape Finisterre in 1747, and in 1759 the navy played a vital part in the ‘year of victories’ with triumphs at Lagos and Quiberon Bay; and it conducted amphibious operations as far afield as Cuba and the Philippines, and took Quebec. The author explains how it was fundamentally transformed from the amateurish, corrupt and complacent force of the previous decades. He describes how it acquired uniforms and a definite rank structure for officers; and developed new ship types such as the 74 and the frigate. It instigated a more efficient (if equally brutal) method of recruiting seamen, and boosted morale and motivation and a far more aggressive style of fighting. The coppering of ships’ hulls and the solving of the problems associated with longitude and scurvy, were also hugely significant steps. Much of this transformation was due to the forceful if enigmatic personality of George, Lord Anson. In a largely static society, he changed the navy so that it was fit for purpose, and in readiness for Nelson just decades later. Using a mass of archival evidence and a mix of official reports and personal reminiscences, this book offers a fascinating and engrossing analysis of all these far-reaching reforms, which in turn led to the radical transformation of Britain’s navy into a truly global force. The consequential effect on the world’s history would be huge.

Since Biblical times and throughout the Solomonic succession, Ethiopia's gold mines have continuously been in the respective rulers' hands. Therefore, raids on the gold shipments to the capital were always a significant problem. Marauding bandits known as 'Shiftas' had captured large amounts of modern firearms from the dissolving Italian military colonial forces in 1941, thus dramatically raising the risk of such transports. Most directly affected was the gold mine of Shakiso in the region of Sidamo. With the end of the war and the return of Emperor Haile Selassie, that goldmine was once again highly productive under the supervision of a new expatriate manager. As a result, the mine's yield increased, and the gold bullion shipments to Addis Ababa started again at regular intervals. With copious and regular plunder available, the raids of the 'Shiftas' became increasingly bold. A runway for airplanes near the mine seemed to be the answer. But that too was fraught with problems during the tropical rainy season—and air transport brought yet another problem when a pilot, moved by the love of a woman, decided to steal the bullion on his last flight. Long-forgotten fuel reserves on a former airfield of the Italians allow him a stopover to leave Ethiopia far behind and out of the authorities' reach. However, on that day, a front of thunderstorms between him and the fuel supplies rapidly developed. In this situation, doubts about the success of the hazardous venture seem appropriate.

While serving as a British Fencible to maintain the peace in eighteenth-century Ireland, Anson finds that his sympathy for a hedge master places him in conflict with the law of King George II.