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Rating: 
Summary: An anxious time
Review: The cover picture of ships in battle is completely false. This is a novel of naval guile instead. Ramage is a master of ruses de guerre, of victories with a short butcher's bill featuring his regular cast of characters (cf. "Ramage's Signal"). Following the life-changing events of the previous book ("Renegades"), Ramage is on a peaceable sailor's honeymoon when he finds himself newly behind enemy lines. The story of his escape and pursuit of a devilish captain to Devil's island prison includes vignettes of the oft-blockaded port of Brest, the ifyness of planning an action, diagnosis of alcoholism, the formation of trade wind clouds, messing below decks, books of secret signals, and how to fire a cannon on a pitching deck, as well as various tactical decisions that Ramage discusses with his officers.
Rating: 
Summary: More adventures of Lord Ramage
Review: When the Ramage novels were reprinted, they were left in a mishmash. This one is listed as number 13, but chronologically it appears to be one of five Ramage novels that go after "Ramage & the Guillotine" which is listed as No. 6, and before "Ramage's Diamond," which is listed as No. 7 (see my Listmania listing). The readers are left a bit adrift trying to determine the correct chronological order (necessary to understand some of the plot). The Peace of Amiens lasted from March 1802 to May 1803. This novel starts at the end of the peace with Ramage and his bride caught in France. The author borrows material from C. S. Forester's Hornblower series to orchestrate Ramage's escape. There is then a sub-plot as Ramage regains command of a frigate (although the author seems to forget details like which year he had Ramage promoted to captain).At his point, history goes off track. The author places the prison colony on Devil's Island considerably before its time (Victor Hugo had things right when he had Jean Valjean sentenced to a prison galley). It is an interesting plot as Ramage uses trickery to capture enemy ships. However the author fills up space with side degressions to describe flora & fauna, weights of ships' stores, etc., when you sometimes wish he would get on with the story (was the author getting old at this point or was the publisher, perhaps, paying him by the word?). As noted by a previous reviewer, the cover art is unrelated to this novel. There are some errors reflecting bad research, e.g., the Dutch still had a monopoly on nutmeg in 1803.
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