Ramage at Trafalgar (The Lord Ramage Novels) (No. 16) [Paperback]

Dudley Pope (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Lord Ramage Novels | Publication Date: September 1, 2002

Ramage, finally reunited with his beloved Sarah, hopes to spend at least a few quiet weeks with her. Instead, he is summoned by Admiral Nelson himself. His orders: Ramage is to join Nelson's fleet blockading the combined French and Spanish navies in the port of Cadiz. But Nelson's plan is not merely to blockade the enemy's fleet. He intends to confront it head-on in the biggest naval battle the world has ever seen.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Dudley Pope is well known both as the creator of the Ramage novels and as a distinguished naval historian. Pope falsified his age in order to enlist in the British Merchant Navy during World War II. In action, his ship was torpedoed and he spent 14 days at sea in an open lifeboat. After being discharged due to the injuries he received, he worked as the naval and defense correspondent at the London Daily News. He turned to writing fiction at the urging of C. S. Forester, who viewed Pope as his creative heir. Author of ten non-fiction historical works as well as the 18 books in the Ramage series, Dudley Pope died in 1997.

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: 256 pages
• Publisher: McBooks Press; paperback / softcover edition (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590130227
• ISBN-13: 978-1590130223
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #182,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > History > Military > Napoleonic Wars

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, December 13, 2002

By 

tertius3 (MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ramage at Trafalgar (The Lord Ramage Novels) (No. 16) (Paperback)

After a good deal of interesting matters on shore, Ramage and his faithful crew (already rich with prize money but faultlessly loyal to their captain) race off to join Admiral Lord Nelson before Cadiz in Spain, and the great naval battle of Trafalgar in 1805. More than any other nautical novel I've read, this one makes clear just how revolutionary were Nelson's killer tactics. It is worth reading just for the views of Nelson at home and at war. The reasons why Nelson is Britain's greatest hero are made clear. The story is constructed with a long narrative line building to a thrilling climax, and a wonderfully sad ending as Ramage appears headed for another court-martial due to his valiant actions taken without orders.

Book notes: poorly proof-read for a McBooks book. The only title in the Ramage series with a genuinely old painting on the cover (but has nothing to do with the story). While it can certainly stand on its own better than most in the series because it more closely concerns real historical figures than usual, as the 16th of 18 this volume is probably not the place to start.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ramage at Trafalgar, July 2, 2006

By 

Michael M. O'mara (Rochester Hills, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ramage at Trafalgar (The Lord Ramage Novels) (No. 16) (Paperback)

Not only entertaining reading but much detail of how living ws in that century.
Also really detailed info on how ships and their cews lived and died.
The description of the gunpwder room is particularly detailed, something missing from other eloquent writers of this genre.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exciting book, June 26, 2008

By 

Dr J (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ramage at Trafalgar (The Lord Ramage Novels) (No. 16) (Paperback)

After the disaster of the previous book (Ramage's Challenge), this one is a welcome relief. It starts off a little slowly--getting the ship ready in England and sailing out to join the fleet off Cadiz. And Pope, in usual fashion, can't move things along quickly enough. Well, Ramage joins the fleet and is sent onshore as a a spy to get information from an informant. This episode is not particularly helpful to the story, though. Things really get good when the Franco-Spanish fleet sets sail. From here on, the book reads like a thriller and the battle is very good. Pope really rises to the challenge and gives the reader a treat. too bad he didn't get right to the good stuff right away. This could have been a great book.

I do have some problems with weaving fictional characters into historical events. Yes, sooner or later, all our fictional heroes must be at the big battles. But Ramage seems to play too big a part. He's not just some guy on a ship shooting a gun, but a relatively major, or at least noticeable, player in the battle. I'm a bit uncomfortable with that.