Captain Caution follows The Lively Lady and is the concluding title in the Chronicles of Arundel. The year is 1812 and America has declared war on Britain. The American ship Olive Branch is waylaid by a British cruiser. In the ensuing fight, Captain Dorman is killed and his crew is taken prisoner, including the captain's pretty and strong-willed daughter, Corunna. The crew is able to escape when the British vessel is attacked by an American schooner, only to fall prey to a traitorous American slave captain.

With his keen eye to detail Roberts weaves a colorful tale of swashbuckling and sea battles. He portrays the bravery of American and French seamen, their sufferings at the hands of the British, the invention of the Gangway Pendulum, and the sailors' dangerous and dramatic escape from the prison hulks.