forces. When Admiral Sarnow's superior deploys most of Hancock Station's ships to other star systems to guard against further Havenite provocation, the Argus net allows the Havenites to see this weakness in the Manticore position, and they decide to attack Hancock Station in force. Honor joins Admiral Mark Sarnow's fleet alongside her old enemy, Pavel Young. With most of the Royal Manticoran Navy deployed elsewhere to prevent the Havenite provocations, Honor and Admiral Sarnow find themselves forced to defend Hancock Station from a vastly superior Havenite armada. With the help of Honor's unorthodox tactics, the task force is able to hold off the Havenites for long enough for reinforcements to arrive. In the final stages of the battle Pavel Young, startled by an impact on his ship and technically in command of the formation, orders the formation to scatter. Honor, realizing the battle can still be won by quickly closing Manticore reinforcements, reassembles the fleet, resulting in a crushing Havenite defeat. At the end of the novel, Young is removed from command, placed under arrest and is to be court-martialed at Manticore. Capt. Tankersley is promoted to Captain of the List and ordered back to Manticore aboard Nike for reassignment. After the first disastrous battles of the war, three Havenite revolutionaries—Robert S. Pierre, Oscar Saint-Just, and Cordelia Ransom—lead the overthrow of their "Legislaturalist" government by killing hereditary President Harris and nearly his entire government during his birthday celebration with an air strike by shuttles of the Havenite Navy. They blame the killings on the Navy, and using the fear of a possible military coup form a "Committee of Public Safety" to rule the People's Republic "until a new government can be formed". They begin a purge of senior military officers and political figures to cement their rule. This novel is much less Honor-centered than the previous two, and the war is depicted from many perspectives. External links An excerpt of The Short Victorious War is available for download or reading online at the Baen Free Library here. Baen Books available as e-books American science fiction novels Novels by David Weber Honorverse books 1994 American novels 1994 science fiction novels