Governor Ramage R. N. (The Lord Ramage Novels) (Volume 4) [Paperback]

Dudley Pope (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2000 | Series: The Lord Ramage Novels (Book 4)

Lieutenant Lord Ramage, in command of the Triton brig, is escorting a convoy from Barbados to Jamaica, normally a routine and tedious chore. But this time Ramage has to be especially vigilant to guard the convoy's precious cargo—a family of important French refugees.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Eminently readable. . . highly recommended for holiday reading." -- Evening Standard

"Not even C. S. Forester knows more about the routine and battle procedures of the British Navy in the days of Nelson." -- The New York Times

"The first and still favourite rival to Hornblower." -- Daily Mirror

About the Author

Dudley Pope, a naval defense correspondent of the London Evening News, progressed to writing carefully researched naval history. C.S. Forester urged Pope to try his hand at fiction and saw the younger writer as his literary heir. Pope began what was to become an impressive series with Ramage (1965) and, over the next 24 years, produced 17 more novels tracing Lord Ramage's career. Pope died in 1997.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: McBooks Press; X edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 093552679X
• ISBN-13: 978-0935526790
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #740,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars disappointing book in the series, August 3, 2006

By 

Dr J (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Governor Ramage R. N. (The Lord Ramage Novels) (Volume 4) (Paperback)

This is the fourth book in Pope's Ramage series (see my reviews of "Ramage, Drumbeat, The Triton Brig"). I have enjoyed the first three a lot. This one, however, was a disappointment. First off, there was a storm. Pope has a way of never being able to say anything in a few pages that he can say in 50 and this interminable storm must have made Noah himself shudder. I really wish he would have just landed Ramage and crew on the island and gotten on with the story. Well, finally, he does. The action against the Spaniards on the island is fine (no spoilers!), but hardly kept me spell-bound. I think Pope could have made it much more interesting. More action and less detail would have made this a better story. Finally, there is a court martial. We see that Ramage will have a future in the Royal Navy.

This book is not a typical Royal Navy book. It's more of an adventure rather than war novel. It's fine, but too long.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heavy weather sailing sets high water mark in series, November 28, 2005

By 

Bob Carpenter (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Governor Ramage R. N. (The Lord Ramage Novels) (Volume 4) (Paperback)

Lash yourself to your reading chair and let Lieutenant Lord Ramage steer you through the most intense hurricane you'll experience in scores of Atlantic crossings. The description is so long and detailed that it's reminiscent of Patrick O'Brian (Aubrey/Maturin).

The book's ostensibly a mystery. And it's a taut one involving the obvious Caribbean bounty - pirate treasure. There's more characterization of Ramage in this book than in some of the previous ones, but it's more C.S. Forester (Hornblower) than O'Brian, despite the magnitude of Ramage's logistical and management nightmares. If you like wilful British sailors solving maritime mysteries, you could do worse than David Donachie's Privateersman series.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced seafaring, June 24, 2001

By 

tertius3 (MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Governor Ramage R. N. (The Lord Ramage Novels) (Volume 4) (Paperback)

This 4th volume picks up the events in the eastern Caribbean following Lt. Ramages's FREEBOOTER adventure. You really should read this series in order, if only because at first opportunity some character will recapitulate the previous volume's heroics. In this fast-paced story Ramage endures 1797 convoy duty, suffers from his family's nemesis again (RAMAGE #1), sees a new heartthrob, spots a skulking privateer, is terrorized by a hurricane, hunts treasure, obtains a prize of no interest, is subject to another court martial, and pursues an ugly vendetta. This time out Pope teaches us about convoying, the muster book, hurricane colors and frights, estimating distances at sea, ship weights, and the then value of gold.

Pope writes pretty well, with great pace, plot, and crystal clear action. The structure of the stories is dramatic, moving from small to large troubles with pauses for strained humor. Scenes are dead on, but the overall plot is so improbable you don't want to think on it. His characters are interesting but so predictably one-sided you soon learn to recognize the clues who will turn out good or bad. An authorial tic is interrupting long climactic action sequences with dry disquisitions on naval minutiae that could easily have been put in the slow parts instead. Or perhaps Pope is trying to show the thought processes of a somewhat naive leader who is at his best only in angry action (vide his model, Hornblower). Pope doesn't give away upcoming events in his chapter headings (none), unlike Kent's stories of Bolitho. The language is unoffensive; the blood and guts of battle is simply not strongly felt, and we never learn whether Ramages's new infatuations actually betray his first love. The characters' emotions are restrained, like a contemporary painting by Ingres or David rather than the horror of Goya or Blake. The book design by Paperwork is a fine job. (368 pp only.) Hardback copies of Ramage are way up in value.