The Courage of the Commonwealth is the second book in the Perseverance Andrews series. The action takes place in the same universe as Spearman's award-winning Halberd series, but roughly 400 years earlier. The Courage of the Commonwealth continues the story of one of the early heroes in Commonwealth history-a woman named Perseverance Andrews, an officer in the Royal Navy of the Inter-Planetary Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is embroiled in a war against its two biggest rivals. More than just military action, the novel contains romance and political intrigue.