The ships of the Mediterranean are not often well-known or documented. As a consequence we felt it necessary to preface this monograph with a study of those ships, limited to those in the service of the Royal Navy in Toulon, with the addition of those ships that constituted the commercial version of the xebec.
As usual our sources are comprised exclusively of documents of the period, with no "second hand" information. We follow our usual order of presentation. Not a simple booklet that is merely a companion-piece to the plates, this volume is a complete study whose subject justifies its importance.
Feluccas, brigantines, oared galiots, half-galleys, tartans, lateen bark, polaccas, pinks, and finally xebecs are successively examined. This monograph on the xebec LE REQUIN is based on documentation that gives us a complete picture of this ship. Painstaking research has allowed us to collect period plans of this vessel, exhaustive information on its rigging as well as the full history of the ship in peace time, at the beginning of its career, then through its racing campaign during the Seven Years' War, and finally a full account of a 1762 squadron expedition under the orders of Monsieur de Bompard.

153 p. booklet, 24 x 31cm format, including :
- A study of Mediterranean ships in the port of Toulon
- A study of the xebec
- Xebecs in the Royal Navy, 1750-1779,
- The xebec LE REQUIN, its description, history, 1762 expedition,
- Detailed commentary with full explanation of the plates at 1:48 scale,
- Commentary on 21 photographs of a period model of LE REQUIN
- All rigging rules for xebecs
- Glossary,
- Commentary on 13 photographs of details of the rigging.

A set of 23 plates including :
-22 plates at 1:48 scale showing details of the timber works, the rigging and fitting with an illustration of all the frames and full details of the prow and stern formations at 1:48 scale.

-A plate at 1:72 scale which may be used for building the model at this scale.