Ramage, by Dudley Pope

Ramage starts with the hero Lord Nicholas Ramage, ranking third lieutenant, being unconscious in the middle of a furious sea battle, and roused by the enlisted men to assume command of the frigate Sibella. He wakes up to a disaster. The frigate is crippled and sinking, all the other officers are dead, and they are still being attacked by a French battleship.

So the novel, and the series, gets off to a very fast start. Ramage needs to somehow get out of the fight, but also has a difficult and challenging mission to complete, assigned to him by the infamous Nelson himself. So the action is fast and furious. And while the action slows down a little in the middle, the book never gets boring.

There is also a beautiful woman here, Marchesa di Volterra, along with intrigue, camaraderie, battles, romance, and excitement. As well, the ending is very suspenseful.

Ramage comes across as is a very interesting and likable character with intriguing weaknesses and strengths. Also, Pope presents the Royal Navy in a very realistic fashion - with all its flaws - its tendency to promote incompetent officers from wealthy and influential families, the internal politics, the problems posed by mentorship relations, and so on. Ramage is a great navy fiction novel. An outstanding start for the Lord Ramage series!

Links to Dudley Pope's books at Ramage at amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN, .

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