Ramage & the Drumbeat

This is the second in the Ramage series (see my review of _Ramage_). It's even better than the first. Pope is a fine writer and keeps the pace moving along at a good clip--easy to read. Ramage has a series of adventures and finally plays a major part in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. The real joy in these books is following Ramage's thought processes to solve the predicament he's in. Pope never gives it away, though, and the reader has to guess (just as the crew does!) at his plans. It's like reading a mystery novel. It's all good fun!

After a brief recapitulation of the eventful first volume in this series, Pope picks up the day to day adventures of Lt. Lord Ramage in his first command. Carrying the love of his life to Gibraltar, Ramage falls in with frigates, both Spanish and British, has an onshore diversion spying on the enemy, has a run-in with a Levanter, and returns to save the day for the fleet and his beloved Commodore Nelson. Ramage is a clever dog, and Pope smart enough to keep us in the dark about his hero's tricks until he's about to crash aboard an enemy ship. I love the atmospheric detail of antique things and actions, but Pope is also a bit talky, his factual asides occasionally breaking into the action, rather like a sprinkle of sand on plum duff. Often his asides serve to draw out an action to interminable, almost real-time, length. For example, Pope has Ramage engage in a monologue on the texture of deck wood while he makes a fateful decision during Adm. Jervis' great fleet battle off Cape St. Vincent in 1797 (NB: this is NOT Nelson's fatal battle at nearby Trafalgar, in 1805). In such ways Pope stretches a single-ship action to 80 agonizing pages, with hardly a page for the actual cut-and-thrust of boarding. Maybe Pope is trying to give us a study of the thought processes of successful leadership, at close to the last time leaders were wholly on their own. Good thing Ramage has the loyalty of his crew and the luck o' the divil for his thrilling but disobedient series of escapades here off Spain, or he'd've been flogged 'round the fleet. (If you want to try your own hand at sailing a radio-controlled model square-rigger, my search of the Web suggests it will cost us thou$ands vs several hundred$ for a fore-and-aft rig.)I suspect many of the episodes are exciting fantasy, but set in solid historical contexts (easiest to write while the hero is still a minor officer unlikely to have been mentioned in dispatches). The jolly steadfastness of Ramage's tars could become tiresome; reminds me too much of Marryat. Kudos to McBooks for the typography that catches the insouciance of Ramage, and for the thrilling wrap-around cover art of Paul Wright.

. ********************************************** Review of the Ramage series of novels: Don't read this until you have read the first book: Ramage, by Dudley Pope. Book 1: Ramage Book 2: Ramage and the Drumbeat Book 3: Ramage and the Freebooters Book 4: Governor Ramage RN Book 5: Ramage's Prize Book 6: Ramage and the Guillotine Order them all, because you won't want to stop. The action is fast and furious. This is second in a series of historical fiction by Dudley Pope. All of these are fictional novels based on British Admiralty records of the Napoleonic era. Written in the best tradition of Forester and O'Brien, these books will capture your imagination. And if you haven't read the Hornblower series by Forester, or the Aubrey/Maturin series by O'Brien, try them also. All of these are excellent books that you will treasure and reread. I particularly like these books by Pope. I recommend that you buy them all at once and read them in order. You will be glad you did. If you enjoy reading accurate descriptions of naval maneuvers in the age of sail, or simply a good adventure yarn, Dudley Pope delivers. Pope conveys how the best of the best, handle emergency situations. He portrays these situations with realism and authenticity. Review of this book: Ramage, in command of cutter Kathleen, is ordered to proceed to Gibralter to support Lord Nelson. On the way, he manages to find a unique way to capture a dismasted Spanish frigate and untold other adventures, that I won't give away. This book describes Ramage's exicting activities immediately prior to and through the battle of Trafalgar where he plays a pivotal role. The actual battle of Trafalgar, aside from a few liberites take with respect to our hero, is not surprisingly accurate in the account of battle. The book is great fun and so is the next one! *************************************************

This is a very entertaining book, with an real barn-burner of a battle at the end. The best thing about this book is the unusual and creative tactics Ramage uses during the battles. The battles in this book are not the usual artillery slug-fests. The book is fairly well-written, although Pope doesn't come close to Patrick O'Brian in terms of quality prose and witty dialogue. The characters are likable but not terribly three-dimensional. One of the reasons I really like Pope, though, is that he was incredibly knowledgeable about sailing and the age of fighting sail and it shows in his writting. At one point, Pope gives a brief history of the ships of the line in Sir John Jervis' squadron (real historical ships) and he lists every major battle they fought in and who commanded them at the time. Of course he could have just looked all that up, but I think that he just knew all that history. The final battle is essentially the Battle of St. Vincent, but it is greatly modified for dramatic purposes. Pope obviously loved his subject matter. At one point he gives about a page and a half description of all of the beautiful features of a ship of the line. I have also read that of all of the major writers in this genre, Pope was the best real-life sailor. (He spent many years of his life living on and sailing his boat, the Ramage). But anyway, this series is excellent so far; one no fan of nautical fiction should miss.

I thought that the first Ramage book was a harbinger of things to come. "Drumbeat" is as good , or better, than its predecessor. The story is appealing, the characters of Ramage, his crew, and the Marchesa continue to develop well, and the detail work is fine. After two exposures to Ramage, I compare Pope's work with him to Alexander Kent's Bolitho series. In both, the main characters are believable and draw the reader into their world most convincingly. It's a great thing for readers of nautical fiction that Ramage is being reprinted in U.S. editions. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.