Editing Master and Commander (section)

==Setting==
The novel opens on 18 April 1800 and covers the period until mid 1801,{{sfn|Brown|2006|p=10}} the action being portrayed within the historical setting of [[War of the Second Coalition]], one phase in Britain’s long and continuing war against the French following [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Nelson]]'s victories in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], including the British victory at the 1798 [[Battle of the Nile]]. Events in the novel also largely take place in the Mediterranean, with the French, British, and Spanish navies attempting to capture and disrupt the merchant shipping of their enemies. 

A significant subplot of the novel concerns the divided loyalties of two Irishmen, Dillon and Maturin, following their involvement in the unsuccessful [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]].{{sfn|King|2000|p=208}} Ireland was then under the domination of the [[Protestant Ascendancy]], and political dissent in the country had been increasing for some time. Irish Protestants bemoaned the lack of an effective political voice and the fact that much of the best agricultural land was held by [[absentee landlord]]s, while Irish Catholics, who formed the majority of the population, were excluded from political participation and respectable professions. The [[Society of United Irishmen|United Irishmen]] was formed in the late 18th century to tackle these grievances, leading ultimately to rebellion. In the rebellion's aftermath many disaffected Irishmen (such as Maturin in the novel) had left the island to seek their fortunes elsewhere.{{sfn|Brown|2006|p=10}}