Naval Captain Will Laurence, When boarding a French ship did his men have taken, finds a dragon egg Being Transported. When Dragons, hatched, become bound to Their new owners When the harness is put on them and from That point dragon and owner become Virtually inseparable. One of Will's Seamen wins (loose ??) the lot to become the new owner of the Dragon When it hatches - but When the egg is finally opened the newborn dragon instead takes to Will. This is a devastating loss for want as the Aerial Corps (dragon owners and riders) are not Treated well in the society of the day.
Still, Will Seems to take his new role fairly philosophically and he and Temeraire, the dragon, start learning about eachother. Dragons can speak as soon as They are hatched and Temeraire is a very interesting character. He has incredible loyalty to Will but not the same level of loyalty to honor and country did his handler has.
Most of this story covers the training thatwill and Temeraire go through with different dragons, flying in formation and trying to protect British shores from the French dragons loyal to Bonaparte. The battle of Trafalgar Takes Place in this book, among other battles, and it is rooted in history despite the rather large tangent of Battles.
I enjoyed the book very much, particularly in Will's change of circumstance from sea captain to dragon handler, and in his dealings with Temeraire and the other dragons and Their handlers. There are other books written Following this and I want to enjoy looking out for them - it's a great fun and read something thatwill appeal to many people.
This book What then published under the title "His Majesty's Dragon"